Preliminary observations and demands

The Kenya Human Rights Commission takes note of the Presidential Proclamation on the Framework for Compensation of Victims of Protests and Riots, published on August 8, 2025.

Reporting to Mr. Ruto, this initiative is intended to establish a framework for compensating civilians and police victims of protests between 2017 and 2025.

KHRC and its sector partners have long advocated for victim–and human rights–centred approaches to justice. However, given the direct involvement of past and present regimes in the violations under review, we are deeply concerned that the proposed framework risks becoming another exercise in whitewashing and cover-up rather than a vehicle for truth, justice, and accountability.

With decades of experience pursuing justice for victims of state and corporate atrocities, from the colonial era to today, KHRC sets out 10 irreducible demands. The Ruto regime must act on them as a sign of its political goodwill and seriousness. These steps require no new frameworks, only decisive administrative action that rests fully within the regime’s control.

  1. An unconditional public apology from Mr. Ruto and a demonstrated expression of remorse for the brutal acts perpetrated by state security forces and complicit corporates.
  2. Immediate and unconditional release of the more than 90 youth political prisoners currently detained in various police cells nationwide, as well as dozens of missing people last seen under police custody.
  3. Immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all trumped-up, politically motivated charges brought against human rights defenders (HRDs) arrested in different parts of the country before and between 2017 and 2025.
  4. Immediate end to political persecution and repression. In particular, we demand the unconditional return of Martin Mavenjina, Senior Program Advisor at KHRC, who was extraordinarily and unlawfully renditioned to Uganda by the regime on July 6, 2025, while returning to Kenya from South Africa.
  5. Immediate and unconditional end to arbitrary and prohibitive tech repression manifesting in the surveillance, tracking, and capture of HRDs, and other forms of media censorship.
  6. Prompt and full payment of all court-ordered and officially sanctioned remedies to victims of gross human rights violations in Kenya, within the period under review and beyond.
  7. The regime must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all appeals filed in cases where it has been found culpable of egregious human rights violations. Ongoing cases against human rights violators, whether state or corporate actors, must be fast-tracked.
  8. Immediate and unconditional stoppage of criminalization of public gatherings, including, but not limited to, protests, court appearances, and media events. The retention of the term “riots” in the framework reflects the state’s deliberate framing to delegitimize the right to peaceful assembly and protest, as guaranteed under Article 37 of the Constitution.
  9. Immediate and unconditional assurance of victims’ protection, and provision of medical care to survivors of state-sanctioned human rights violations between 2017 and 2025.
  10. Immediate and unconditional cessation of state violence, de-escalation of injustices, and an end to the capture of constitutional and independent institutions responsible for justice and governance in the country.

Further policy and legal concerns

While we remain committed to advancing justice for affected victims, we are deeply concerned that the proposed framework blatantly contravenes national and international laws on transitional justice in the following ways:

  1. Executive overreach and lack of independence

The framework is initiated and controlled by Mr. Ruto, who is already compromised by his declaration of protesters as “terrorists” and “coup plotters,” and by issuing shoot-to-maim orders. Mr. Ruto himself praised police killings of protesters.

Moreover, the framework ropes in the Ministry of Interior, a state organ implicated in the very violations under review; the Attorney General, who has consistently defended state-led abuses; and the National Treasury, architect of the punitive Finance Bills that sparked the 2023 and 2024 protests.

This alignment of offices, directly tied to the violations in question, destroys the political and institutional independence necessary for genuine investigations and accountability. It amounts to executive capture of a justice process, violating Articles 47 and 50 of the Constitution, which guarantee fair administrative action and impartial hearings before independent tribunals.

  1. Erosion of constitutional and institutional mandates

The framework undermines the roles of constitutional commissions and independent institutions, particularly the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), which are mandated to investigate systemic human rights violations and police excesses, respectively.

  1. Violation of the Victims Protection Act, 2014 (Parts V and VI)

Having a separate compensation framework under this initiative contradicts the Victims Protection Trust Fund and Board mandate to provide services, support, and restitution to victims of crime and offences. Still, it is unfortunate that taxpayers bear such compensation despite not committing the crime.

  1. Contravention of international human rights standards

Based on the above findings, the framework contravenes the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparations for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law. These principles call for:

  1. Independent and impartial truth and justice mechanisms;
  2. Full investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators;
  3. Effective reparations, including compensation, rehabilitation, restitution, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition;
  4. Protection of victims and institutional reforms to prevent future violations.

None of these requirements is guaranteed under the proposed framework. We are aware that there are officials within the regime who know and understand these positions, and we are dismayed and disappointed that they have now seemingly abandoned their principles and are now behaving like praise singers of the regime.

Our position

Given these political and legal realities, we call for the immediate disbandment of this compromised and unlawful initiative. Instead:

  1. KNCHR and IPOA must be granted operational and political support to conduct joint investigations and report directly to Parliament.
  2. The state must operationalize the Victims Protection Trust Board, long frustrated by political interference, to oversee reparations to victims.
  3. Human rights organizations, UN human rights experts, and mandate holders should be allowed to monitor and supervise the investigations, compensation, and reparations.
  4. To guarantee non-repetition, the Kenya Kwanza regime must ensure that all its decisions comply with the Constitution, uphold the rule of law, protect human rights, and respect the sovereignty of the people.
  5. Moving forward, and to deepen individual and command responsibility and public financial accountability, we recommend amending the Victims Protection Act, 2014, to ensure compensation for victims of state-sanctioned violence is drawn from the proceeds of the perpetrators, not from the public purse. This mirrors the ICC Trust Fund for Victims, which is partly financed through fines and asset forfeitures imposed on offenders.