Amnesty International has called upon members of the public to throng a city court following the arrest and subsequent charging of the organisation’s executive director Irungu Houghton on December 10, 2024.

Houghton was arrested and bundled into a waiting police Land Cruiser on a street in Nairobi during the end of the 16 Days of Activism against Femicide.

In a statement on Friday, December 13, 2024, Amnesty International urged members of the public to attend the court proceedings scheduled for December 16, 2024.

“Following the arrest and chargin of Irungu Houghton and several protesters during the #EndFemicide and #HumanRightsDay2024 march, the public is invited to court on Monday 16 December to witness the proceedings,” the rights body stated.

According to Amnesty International, Houghton was charged with the offence of taking part in an unlawful assembly and was released on a Ksh10,000 cash bail pending the hearing of the case on December 16, 2024.

In a video which was widely shared, plain-clothed individuals were seen forcefully removing Houghton from a group of protesters he was marching with before bundling him onto the back of a police vehicle.

Call for unconditional release

The rights body later on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, reported the arrest and called for the unconditional release of their director, pleas which fell on deaf ears.

“Our Executive Director, Irungu Houghton, and 3 others have been arrested during the #EndFemicideKE peaceful protests. This brazen attack on the right to assembly is an affront to justice. We demand their immediate and unconditional release,” the rights body noted.

Police action during the protests was widely condemned given that President William Ruto had set aside Ksh100 million for awareness to end the rising incidents of femicide.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei called out police officers’ actions as an unnecessary provocation on innocent protesters marching for a just course.

“On this #HumanRightsDay we have an obligation that all human rights are guaranteed by state and non-state actors. The tear-gassing by police of peaceful and unharmed protesters in Nairobi CBD is an unnecessary provocation and a mockery of the protection of human rights in the country,” Cherargei said.

PS Omollo apology

Interior PS Raymond Omollo equally apologized on Thursday, December 12, 2024, on behalf of the officers, noting that their actions were regrettable.

He said the police action was unacceptable and regretted that the conduct, happening on International Human Rights Day, highlighted the challenges Kenya faces in policing.

“It is something that we deeply regret. We have internal processes within the police structure and anyone found culpable will be subjected to the legal process and established protocols. We have had discussions with the Inspector General of Police, and it is regrettable—something that should not have happened in the first place,” Omollo said.