Maina Kiai Explained

Maina Kiai
Nationality:Kenyan
Education:University of Nairobi
Harvard Law School
Occupation:Attorney & human rights activist
Organization:Human Rights Watch
Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
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Awards:Freedom House's Freedom Award (2014), United Nations Foundation's Leo Nevas Award (2016), AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award (2016)

Maina Kiai is a Kenyan lawyer and human rights activist who formerly served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association from May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2017.[1] Between 2018 and 2024, he headed Human Rights Watch's Alliances and Partnerships program.[2]

Kiai is also active in human rights work in Kenya, where he has focused on combating corruption, supporting political reform, and fighting against impunity following post-election violence that engulfed Kenya in 2008.

Education, career, and awards

Kiai's most prominent human rights work began in 1992, when he co-founded the unofficial Kenya Human Rights Commission. He served as the Commission's executive director until September 1998.[3]

Kiai then moved on to become Director of Amnesty International's Africa Program (1999-2001) and the Africa Director of the International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights, 2001-2003) before finally serving as Chairman of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission from 2003 to 2008.[4] From July 2010 to April 2011, Kiai was the Executive Director of the International Council on Human Rights Policy. He has also held research fellowships at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the TransAfrica Forum.

Kiai co-founded the local Kenyan NGO InformAction in 2010 and co-directed it until 2019.[5] This NGO uses a multimedia approach – primarily video production – to help educate Kenyans about their human rights. InformAction benefits from the support of the UNDP, the UNDEF on the Open Society Foundations.[6] He formerly wrote a regular column for the Daily Nation, but resigned in 2018, citing alleged interference with publishing decisions by the government[7] He now writes for the Standard (Kenya).[8]

In 2014, Freedom House awarded Kiai its Freedom Award, an acknowledgment begun in 1943 "to extol recipients' invaluable contribution to the cause of freedom and democracy."[9] Prior Freedom Award honorees include Chen Guangcheng, Aung San Suu Kyi, Vaclav Havel, the 14th Dalai Lama, Medgar Evers, and Edward R. Murrow.

In October 2016, Kiai received the United Nations Foundation's Leo Nevas Award for his work as Special Rapporteur. The award recognizes "those who have served as agents of change in advancing international human rights."[10] In December 2016, he was awarded the 2016 AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award for his "dedication to and effectiveness in highlighting the widespread denial of fundamental human rights at work and in society.".[11] [12]

In September 2018, he joined Human Rights Watch to launch its Alliances and Partnerships program.Kiai is an outspoken supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, arguing that the "involvement of additional actors such as parliamentarians and civil society is critical to democratizing the UN".[13]

In May 2020, Kiai was named as one of 20 inaugural members of the Facebook Oversight Board, which makes content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram.[14]

Kiai is a lawyer by profession, trained at Nairobi and Harvard Universities.

Work as Special Rapporteur

Maina Kiai took up his functions as the first UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association on May 1, 2011. He completed his second and final term on April 30, 2017, and was succeeded by Ms. Annalisa Ciampi of Italy. Special Rapporteurs are independent from any Government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

As Special Rapporteur, Kiai authored or co-authored seven reports to the Human Rights Council on the subjects of:

Kiai also authored four reports to the UN General Assembly, on the subjects of:

Kiai also made nine official country visits, to Georgia (2012), the United Kingdom (2013 & 2016), Rwanda (January 2014), Oman (September 2014), Kazakhstan (January 2015), Chile (September 2015), the Republic of Korea (January 2016) and the United States of America (July 2016).[33] [34]

As Special Rapporteur, Kiai issued more than 190 press statements via OHCHR[35] and sent over 900 communications to UN member states.[36]

Kiai conducted the first ever official country visit to the United States by a UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in July 2016.[37]

Retribution for human rights work

Kiai has been subjected to threats and harassment for his human rights work.

In August 2017, Kiai was briefly blocked from flying out of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport; officials claimed he needed government clearance to leave the country.[38]

In September 2013, Kiai reported that "thugs" had come to his mother's homestead in Nyeri and threatened to burn it down.[39] [40]

In 2008, Kiai was one among several human rights defenders who received death threats, as post-election violence raged in Kenya.[41] A coalition of Kenyan civil society groups reported that they had become aware of a plot involving "a five- or- so man elite squad that has been tasked with the liquidation of, inter alia, Maina Kiai, Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights."[42]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: OHCHR - Maina Kiai biography. www.ohchr.org.
  2. Web site: Noted Kenyan Activist Launches Partnership Initiative. September 20, 2018. Human Rights Watch.
  3. Web site: International Commission of Jurists, Kenya Section. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130506063634/http://www.icj-kenya.org/index.php/events/jurist-of-the-year/67-past-recipients/357-mr-maina-kiai-2005/. 2013-05-06.
  4. Web site: World Movement for Democracy. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101007105643/http://www.wmd.org/about/steering-committee/maina-kiai/. 2010-10-07.
  5. Web site: InformAction - InformAction. www.informaction.tv.
  6. Web site: InformAction - Our Donors and Partners. www.informaction.tv.
  7. Web site: 8 NMG columnists resign, cite gov't interference. Citizentv.co.ke. 28 March 2018 .
  8. Web site: Columnists Who Quit Nation Announce Their Next Destination. Martin Siele on 26 April 2018-4:03. pm. Kenyans.co.ke.
  9. Web site: Annual Awards Dinner 2014. www.freedomhouse.org.
  10. Web site: Maina Kiai to receive United Nations Foundation's Leo Nevas Human Rights Award on Oct. 19 in New York; fellow honorees include President Obama - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  11. Web site: Maina Kiai Receives AFL-CIO Human Rights Award - Solidarity Center. 15 December 2016.
  12. Web site: received the AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award.
  13. News: Statements - Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. 2017-09-28. en-US.
  14. Web site: News & Articles | Oversight Board. www.oversightboard.com.
  15. Web site: Best practices in promoting the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  16. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20160324223539/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session20/A-HRC-20-27_en.pdf. dead. March 24, 2016.
  17. Web site: Civil Society's Right to seek, receive and use resources – human, material and financial - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  18. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305003723/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session23/A.HRC.23.39_EN.pdf. dead. March 5, 2016.
  19. Web site: Threats against groups most at risk when exercising assembly and association rights - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  20. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20160325035610/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/FAssociation/A-HRC-26-29_en.pdf. dead. March 25, 2016.
  21. Web site: Assembly and association rights in the context of natural resource exploitation - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  22. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20150927123718/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session29/Documents/A_HRC_29_25_en.doc. dead. September 27, 2015.
  23. Web site: Practical recommendations for the management of assemblies - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  24. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20160321051001/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session31/Documents/A.HRC.31.66_E.docx. dead. March 21, 2016.
  25. Web site: Fundamentalism's impact on peaceful assembly and association rights - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  26. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624164934/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session32/Documents/A_HRC_32_36_AUV.docx. dead. June 24, 2016.
  27. Web site: Imagining a World Without Participation: Mapping the Achievements of Civil Society - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  28. Web site: The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  29. Web site: Report via OHCHR. https://web.archive.org/web/20160324223531/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/FAssociation/A_68_299_en.pdf. dead. March 24, 2016.
  30. Web site: Multilateral institutions and their effect on assembly and association rights - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  31. Web site: Report: Comparing States' treatment of business and associations (A/70/266) - UN Special....
  32. Web site: The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  33. Web site: Country Reports - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  34. Web site: OHCHR - Country visits. www.ohchr.org.
  35. Web site: OHCHR - News Search. www.ohchr.org.
  36. Web site: OHCHR - Annual reports. www.ohchr.org.
  37. Web site: Freedoms of assembly and association: UN expert announces first official visit to the USA - Former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011-17).
  38. Web site: Human rights activist barred from boarding plane at JKIA. Cyrus. Ombati. The Standard.
  39. Web site: My life in danger over ICC cases: Kiai. Daily Nation. App.
  40. Web site: Full Press Statement by Maina Kiai on Security Threats over ICC, Sept. 21, 2013. dead. https://archive.today/20131114142400/http://mwamkompya.wordpress.com/2013/09/21/full-press-statement-by-maina-kiai-on-security-threats-over-icc/. 2013-11-14.
  41. Web site: Human Rights House. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110408063010/http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/14767.html/. 2011-04-08.
  42. Web site: Letter from Gladwell Otieno, Executive Director Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG). dead. https://archive.today/20131114142339/http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/action/45360/print/. 2013-11-14.

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