Kenya - Universal Periodic Review

UPR 35, January 23, 2020
Recommendations by Canada

Overview

According to UPR Info, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that tracks the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, in the first two cycles of the UPR, Kenya received 419 recommendations, of which 336 were accepted (an acceptance rate of 80%). Canada’s previous recommendations to Kenya related to transitional justice, security sector impunity and the rights of women and girls.

Kenya is a multi-party democracy that holds regular elections. Media and civil society sectors are robust, and the country’s 2010 rights-based Constitution emphasizes human dignity, equality and freedom. The Government has made important political commitments since its last YOR. It has promised to achieve, by 2020, universal healthcare, food security and affordable housing and, by 2022, to put an end to female genital mutilation (FGM).

Important challenges remain, however. According to Oxfam, wealth inequality has reached “extreme levels,” and unequal access to services like healthcare and education is widespread. Political rights and civil liberties are undermined by corruption and security force brutality. The latter includes serious documented human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Journalists and human rights defenders are affected by restrictive laws and intimidation and, while government surveillance increases, there is little in the way of privacy legislation. Institutions like the National Human Rights Commission struggle with insufficient budget and limited political support.

In May 2019, the High Court of Kenya upheld colonial era laws that criminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults. While rarely enforced, the laws contribute to a climate of discrimination and violence. Stigma also limits access to sexual and reproductive health services for sexual minorities as well as other minority groups (people with disabilities, people living with HIV, adolescents and refugees.) According to UNICEF, twenty-three per cent of Kenyan women are married by age 18 and just over one in five women and girls have experienced FGM. Violence and discrimination against women remain common. According to the Kenya Government Survey of 2017, 47% of women aged 15-49 reported experiencing violence.

Canada’s Intervention

Thank you, Madame President.

Canada thanks Kenya for its presentation and congratulates it for its leadership promoting education for girls in conflict situations and commitment to eradicating female genital mutilation by 2022.

Canada recommends that Kenya:

1. Finalize and implement, in 2020, the Draft National Action Plan to Ending Child Marriage in Kenya for period (2016-2025).
2. Adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law affording protection to all individuals, irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
3. Prevent torture and impunity through full implementation of the National Coroners Service Act 2017 and the Prevention of Torture Act 2017, and include evaluation tool to monitor progress.
4. Ensure equal access to education through the full integration of refugees and asylum-seekers into national education policies by 2020, in accordance with the 2017 Djibouti Declaration.

While we note human rights capacity building efforts targeting the police, Canada remains concerned that little has been done to strengthen internal accountability mechanisms for security agencies despite continued reports of serious human rights violations.