Critics of the Kenyan government disappeared and silently returned

Critics of the Kenyan government disappeared and silently returned

Nairobi, Kenya - Gideon Kibet just left a bus when four masked men surrounded him on Christmas Eve and forced him into a car. The 24-year-old agricultural student reports that the men had torn his shirt, tied it over his eyes and mocked him.

an alarming increase in kidnapping

Kibet is one of numerous prominent government critics who have been against a controversial Law package for financing have disappeared. He was kidnapped after criticizing caricatures in December, which President William Ruto and his government criticized.

The government's reaction

"Bull", as Kibet is known online, was released together with four other people on Monday, just 10 days after Ruto promised to stop the kidnapping of government critics. Ruto, government officials and the police stated for months in the claim that there were no kidnappings, and described them as "fake news", although at least 82 government critics have disappeared since the summer, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

himself as a ruto last month gave up the kidnapping, he took no responsibility for the disappearance of those affected, instead he asked the parents to better pay attention to their children.

The consequences of the kidnappings

The returned activists report that they still don't know who stated or where this happened. However, everyone explained that they are no longer willing to criticize the government on social media or were completely silent. "They were intimidated and threatened until they raise their voices," the activist Hussein Khalid emphasized towards CNN, which underlines the concerns of many human rights defenders: the government seems to have successfully silenced critical voices.

allegations against the authorities

The Kenyan authorities claim not to be behind the kidnappings, and the country's police chief said that none of the disappeared in police stations was recorded. But Khalid and many others believe that all signs indicate the opposite. "It is of course the government, there is no doubt about that. You cannot kidnap people during the day with CCTV cameras. If it is like a duck quact, it is a duck," says Khalid.

The five people who were recently released are badly affected by their experiences. CNN had conversations with two of the young men who were recently released, and with the family of another activist, while another activist spoke to local media and described the experiences.

experiences of the kidnapped

All men reported on the shocking experiences: they were kept in lonely rooms, often in the dark and could only take a shower occasionally. Some stated that they were asked about their online activities. Everyone was brought back without their cell phones. Kibet told CNN that his kidnappers repeatedly asked him whether he knew why he had been arrested. He explained to them that he was kidnapped because of his online activism.

"One of my kidnappers said to me: 'So you decided to be her Jesus to sacrifice you for others?"

organized kidnapping

Kibet, who, like many young Kenyans, was a glowing supporter of Ruto, developed into a sharp online critic after the euphoria about Ruto's takeover of power was disappointing about corruption, high unemployment and a weak economy. Kibet's younger brother, Ronny Kiplangat - a teacher who rarely used social media - disappeared a few days before Kibet and was also released this week.

The brothers believe that KiPlangat was kidnapped to lure Kibet to Nairobi.

human rights violations and the role of the police

Human rights groups demand that the kidnapping are called forced disappearance because they violate Kenyan and international law. The managing director of Amnesty International Kenya, Irungu Houghton, told CNN that the release of disappearance was well calculated and organized. "This is not what two or three renegade police officers could put together, because in many cases they act with weapons," said Houghton.

The National Police Kenya said in a current statement that they are obliged to "ensure that these incidents are thoroughly examined to their logical consequence" after there was criticism that their civil servants had not made any efforts to investigate the disappearance. Many of the kidnapped reports that they were picked up by weapons and handcuffs by hooded men.

The psychological effects

Since his return, Muteti has been in "panic mode, confused and sleeps badly," report his relatives. His family is afraid that he was punished harder than others to stable an example. He did not enter social media again and told his family that he received serious warnings against media interviews from his kidnappers. Billy Mwangi, 24, has also been covered since his return and speaks little about his experiences.

the day after a now blocked X account that posted an edited photo by Ruto, Mwangi disappeared from the threshold of his hairdressing salon and returned to his parents' arms after 15 days. Flanked by his parents, he told the reporters: "I am grateful that I am alive."