Kenyan police teargas protesters over abductions

Police in Kenya's capital Nairobi fired teargas to disperse protesters demonstrating against what they say is a wave of unexplained abductions of government critics, witnesses said.

Dozens of Kenyans have been abducted in recent months, according to human rights groups, who blame the extrajudicial arrests on Kenya's police and intelligence services.

Kenyan authorities have said that the government does not condone or engage in extrajudicial killings or abductions.

Some groups of young protesters marched in downtown Nairobi while others staged a sit-in and chanted slogans against the government, with some holding placards denouncing illegal detentions.

The national police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on protests.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights last week raised concern about a growing number of alleged kidnappings of government critics, saying that the total number of such cases stands at 82 since anti government protests started in June.

Initially aimed at overturning proposed tax hikes, the demonstrations eventually evolved into a movement that cut across Kenya’s traditional ethnic divisions, becoming the biggest threat to President William Ruto’s government.

Ruto said the government would stop the abductions so that young people live in peace.

Omtatah filed a case at the High Court in Nairobi seeking to compel the government to free seven youths, accusing the police of abducting them.

Young protesters said they were in solidarity with those abducted while going about their daily lives.

The rights commission had warned that Kenya was heading back to the “dark days” of the disappearance of government critics. The abduction and torture of the opposition were common under the administration of the late President Daniel Moi.