By Abdimalik Hajir - Reporter
Kenya, 11 December 2025 - A human rights NGO has called on Kenya’s government to take decisive steps to end enforced disappearances, unveiling a report that exposes the deep and lasting impacts the practice has caused.
During the launch of the report Unseen, Unaccounted and Unrecognized: The Harsh Realities of Enforced Disappearance Victims and the Quest for Recognition, Human Rights Agenda (HURIA) Executive Director Yussuf Lule said the findings are not just data but a recognition of the dignity, pain, and courage of families who have lived through one of the most devastating human rights violations: enforced disappearance.
He said that in many families in Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Garissa, Nairobi, and across the country, enforced disappearance has become an unspoken reality. Mothers cannot sleep, wives cannot access property, and children drop out of school.
“Communities mourn without bodies, and the law as it exists today leaves these families unseen, unaccounted, and unrecognized,” he told a gathering during the marking of International Human Rights Day at a Nairobi hotel.
Lule said the theme of this year’s Human Rights Day — human rights: our everyday essentials — speaks directly to the heart of the report. When a person is disappeared, he said, it is not only their rights that are taken away; their family’s everyday essentials collapse — safety, truth, closure, justice, identity, livelihood, and recognition before the law.
“What this report reveals is not only a pattern of violations, but a pattern of abandonment. Families walk from office to office, from station to station, chasing answers that never come,” he said.
The abductions stem from both government counter-terrorism operations in Northeastern and coastal counties and the crackdown on critics, especially after the Gen Z protests where many youths disappeared.
“We honour every mother who refused to give up, every sibling who searched in forests, morgues, and police stations, every community member who stood with a grieving neighbour, and every Kenyan who believes that a life taken without accountability is an attack on us all,” he added.
The report called for urgent legislative, institutional, cultural, and administrative action.
It urged Parliament to immediately ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), make a public commitment to victims’ rights, and enact a comprehensive Enforced Disappearance Act criminalising the practice.
The rights group also wants Parliament to amend the Criminal Procedure Code, the Public Trustees Act, and the Births and Deaths Registration Act.
Related articles
At the same time, the report called on the Interior Cabinet Secretary to publish policy directives standardizing arrest, transfer, and detention procedures, and to establish a reparations fund for victims with Treasury support. It also wants the CS to create a national protocol for tracing disappeared persons and managing unclaimed bodies.
To the Judiciary and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the report asked the Chief Justice to issue practice rules for expeditious disposal of habeas corpus applications, while IPOA should investigate cases urgently, involve families, and report publicly on progress.
The rights group also asked civil society and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) to prioritize psychological, legal, and medical support for victims and families, as well as initiate a digitized national register of enforced disappearance cases.
HURIA further urged civil society groups to support families navigating legal processes and securing certificates of absence.
“And we urgently need a Certificate of Absence, so that families can manage everyday life — inheritance, property, education, legal status — without being trapped in limbo,” added Lule.
The meeting was attended by representatives from civil society and government institutions such as IPOA, ODPP, LSK, and KNCHR, among other partners.
Vocal Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid said Kenyans cannot enjoy basic human rights while enforced disappearances continue to rise, adding that civic space is shrinking not only in Kenya but across East Africa.
“Today it is unfortunate that as we mark International Human Rights Day, the right to life is tragically violated in the name of addressing insecurity. Without a proper legal framework, it will be difficult to address these issues,” he said.
Dr Chibanzi Mwachonda, a psychiatrist, said the psychological and mental health effects caused by government actions and political crackdowns are immense. He warned that the mental-health crises resulting from abductions and the crackdown on protesters may have long-term consequences.
“The psychological impact of the Gen Z protests was huge, and its effects will be seen even 30 years from now. It is therefore upon all stakeholders to come together to initiate a healing process,” he said.
