The Kenyan government should immediately open an investigation into the recent beating and sexual assault of civil society activists by police, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) said Tuesday.

"We join Kenyan human rights leaders in strongly condemning the police attacks on civil society activists as they prepared to hold a peaceful rally," said Suliman Baldo, Director of ICTJ's Africa Program. "The government must immediately investigate the attacks, as well as end the growing trend of police brutality and intimidation against Kenyan civil society."

On August 4, 2008, the 400 member organizations of Kenya's National Civil Society Congress demanded action from Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in an open letter condemning "documented and verified acts of police terror, intimidation, violence and impunity."

In one such incident on July 8, 2008, Kenyan police stormed into a Nairobi hotel where a group of civil rights activists were planning a peaceful anti-corruption rally. Police beat seven of the activists, and one officer also sexually assaulted Anne Njogu, Executive Director of the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness in Nairobi.

Ms. Njogu and her colleagues were taken to a police station in Gigiri, where police again attacked the activists, beating them with police batons and kicking them.

"The sexual assault against Ms. Njogu is part of an appalling wave of violence against women in Kenya," said Debra Schultz, Acting Director of ICTJ's Gender and Transitional Justice Program. "The Kenyan government must take steps to end impunity for gender-based crimes wherever they are committed."

About the ICTJ The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved. To learn more about the ICTJ, please visit

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