Kenya’s High Court may have awarded Wachira Weheire compensation for his unlawful detention and torture, but it did not set any meaningful judicial precedent with the case, writes Tennille Duffy. In its ruling, the court neither denounced ‘the outcome of torture as well as the practice’ nor brought ‘home the point to those in power today that violation of constitutional rights by the state is not acceptable and will always be severely penalised by the courts.’ Not only has the court failed Mr Weheire, argues Duffy, it has failed all those who continue to suffer unlawful detention and torture at the hands of the state.

The role of human rights defenders as witnesses in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into Kenya’s post-election violence of 2007-08 is critical to any hope of ultimate prosecution, but protection of those witnesses has not been treated with corresponding gravity, writes Tennille Duffy. Recent violence against human rights defenders combined with the expected political fallout of the ICC prosecutor’s allegations underscore the serious need for an effective witness protection plan. Such a plan has not been realised, despite reforms to the Witness Protection Act. Government failure to act threatens to undermine the ICC investigation because witness risk could deter testimony.