Deportation of British Human Rights Investigator Condemned

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Ramadhan Rajab

17 May 2011

Lobby groups have condemned the deportation of human rights investigator Clara Gutteridge from Kenya. The Human Rights Watch, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project said the government’s move was aimed at silencing critics of human rights abuses and questioned Kenya’s openness to scrutiny.

Gutteridge, a British citizen, was investigating counterterrorism-related rights violations in Kenya and Uganda as part of a fellowship for the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Yesterday, KNCHR said Gutteridge had been attached to the organisation for her research and had been in Kenya for two months. According to the lobby groups she was detained on May 10, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when she tried to reenter Kenya from Tanzania, where she had been investigating the arrests of Tanzanian suspects in the July 11, 2010 bombings in Kampala.

Gutteridge was held overnight at the airport and deported to the United Kingdom on May 11. According to a document delivered to Gutteridge and signed by Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’, Gutteridge was deported because her “presence in Kenya is contrary to national interest.” The order was dated March 22. “As yet, the government has offered no convincing explanation about Clara Gutteridge’s deportation, raising concerns that she was sent away simply to silence a critical voice,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “If Gutteridge’s deportation is linked to her investigations into the rights of terrorism suspects, this action by the Kenyan government contradicts the principles of openness and rule of law that should govern a democracy.” “We find it a broader scheme to intimidate and harass human rights defenders and a cover up scheme of human rights violations by the government. If the government is doing something right why is it worried about people doing research on it?” Hassan questioned.

Gutteridge was similarly deported from Uganda in December 2010 while working as an investigator for Reprieve, a British non- governmental organization that provides international legal assistance to prisoners.

Gutteridge had attempted to enter Uganda to monitor the bail hearings of eight Kenyans, seven of whom had been illegally extradited to Uganda in July and August and are being tried in Uganda in conjunction with the Kampala bombings. The accused also include a Kenyan human rights activist, Al-Amin Kimathi, arrested in September 2010, when he visited Uganda to attend a court hearing for the July 11 suspects. He was subsequently also charged with terrorism and remains in detention.

Similarly, in April 2011, four Kenyan human rights defenders, including a KNCHR commissioner Hassan were denied entry to Uganda for meetings on the same cases and returned to Nairobi within hours of their arrival at Entebbe airport. “States that are truly committed to respect for human rights should allow rights defenders to investigate suspected violations, provide legal counsel and observe public hearings,” said Hassan Shire Sheikh, executive director of the EHAHRDP. “The Kenyan and Ugandan governments should stop obstructing their lawful work.”

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