Kenya rights groups say protesters found dumped, tortured after arrests

Six found and one missing, NGOs say, after arrests at memorial gatherings for protesters killed in 2024.

Six people who were found “abandoned by the roadside” in Kenya allege that they were “beaten” and subjected to “torture” after they were arrested during a memorial gathering for protesters killed in 2024, rights groups say.

Amnesty International Kenya said on X on Saturday that the six Kenyans – Collins Ochieng, Muteti Mulinge, Michael Ngigi, Elisha Alam, Fredrick Ojiro and Christine Walubengo – went missing after being arrested on Thursday.

The six were found “dumped” in different parts of Nairobi on Saturday morning, but one protester remains missing, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) added.

“Three more comrades have been found dumped. Together with the three who were found earlier, they report being brutally assaulted by police while in custody,” KHRC said in a post on X.

“Meanwhile, Davis Lichuma remains forcibly disappeared. His whereabouts are still unknown,” it added.

Amnesty Kenya said the group is “currently receiving medical treatment after alleging that they were beaten and subjected to torture while in custody”.

About 355 people were arrested across the country on Thursday, according to Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, as demonstrators marked the second anniversary of a 2024 protest where 60 people were killed by security forces.

Many appeared in court on Friday.

The six protesters were arrested outside Parliament and were unreachable since Thursday, as rights groups called for their immediate release.

They were found with injuries and rushed to hospital, local media reported.

“These allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment demand an immediate, independent and impartial investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and those responsible must be held accountable,” Amnesty Kenya said.

The East African nation has a long history of police violence and enforced disappearances.

At least 127 people were killed during protests in Kenya in June-July 2024 and during a similar period in 2025, according to a police watchdog, as security forces shot protesters with near-total impunity.