Solidarity and condolences for Kenyan HRD

Posted on 3 October 2014

Human rights defenders on the CAHR's Protective Fellowship Scheme express solidarity and condolences on the occassion of the burial of Kenyan human rights defender Humphrey Kimani Ndengwa.

We, the human rights defenders on the Protective Fellowship Scheme at the Centre for Applied Human Rights, would like to express our sincere sympathies and participate in the mourning of our brother, Humphrey Kimani Ndengwa.

We come from different countries in the world and have had different experiences in defending and promoting human rights. As such, we stand in solidarity with Humphrey's family, co-workers, and the human rights community at this time.

Humphrey defended the rights of others – he fought tirelessly for the pro-democracy movement organising strategic actions to advance the vision of a democratic parliamentary system in Kenya. He campaigned for the release of political prisoners, spoke out against extra-judicial killings and police brutality, and he struggled for the dignity of the Kenyan poor.

When he died last week he was not only the victim of cancer but of the lack of basic services, government negligence, and isolation suffered by so many in Kenya – which are the very issues he dedicated his life to combatting.

We stand together with all the human rights defenders in Africa and the developing world who struggle for better access to basic rights and services for themselves and their communities.

Our brother and colleague, Humphrey Kimani Ndengwa, has been a leader in the struggle for human rights and he will live on through his legacy. We honour his contribution and we will continue his fight.

2014-2015 Fellows on the Protective Fellowship for Human Rights Defenders at Risk at the University of York, UK

Ruth Mumbi, Kenya ; Katsiaryna Borsuk, Belarus ; Hikma Ahmed Rabih, Sudan ; Y, China ; Ahmed Al-Kolaibi, Yemen ; Renato Paulino Lanfranchi, Brazil ; Valdenia Paulino Lanfranchi, Brazil