{"id":121164,"date":"2025-09-10T10:05:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/dci-denies-harassing-human-rights-watchs-otsieno-namwaya-amid-surveillance-claims\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T10:05:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:05:57","slug":"dci-denies-harassing-human-rights-watchs-otsieno-namwaya-amid-surveillance-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/dci-denies-harassing-human-rights-watchs-otsieno-namwaya-amid-surveillance-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"DCI denies harassing Human Rights Watch\u2019s Otsieno Namwaya amid surveillance claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 9 \u2014 The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has denied allegations that its officers harassed or surveilled Otsieno Namwaya, the Associate Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), saying he is not under investigation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement on Tuesday, the DCI said it had \u201cno involvement with Mr. Otsieno or his associates,\u201d directly contradicting claims by HRW that plainclothes officers from the DCI\u2019s Operational Support Unit (OSU) had been monitoring him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has taken note of allegations of harassment purportedly involving Mr. Otsieno Namwaya by members of the DCI\u2019s Operational Support Unit,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to clarify unequivocally that Mr. Otsieno is not a subject of any ongoing investigations by the DCI.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DCI advised Namwaya to promptly report to the nearest police station if he notices any activities that may threaten his safety so that \u201cimmediate police action can be taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DCI remains committed to ensuring the safety of all individuals in Kenya and will continue to act in accordance with the law,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

The denial comes after HRW issued a statement on August 29, accusing Kenyan police of conducting surveillance on Namwaya\u2019s residence between August 23 and 25.<\/p>\n

The organization said men believed to be OSU officers repeatedly visited Namwaya\u2019s neighborhood in Thika, loitered near his home, and were seen taking photographs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surveillance of a Human Rights Watch staff member is a stark reminder of the ongoing threats and repression facing rights activists in Kenya today,\u201d said Federico Borello, HRW\u2019s interim executive director.<\/p>\n

HRW further claimed that the surveillance followed months of attempts by government security officials to track Namwaya\u2019s movements through people known to him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The group said unofficial sources had linked the monitoring team to a senior member of the OSU.<\/p>\n

Namwaya, who has worked with HRW in Kenya for more than 13 years, has documented human rights abuses, including police violence during protests in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

\u00a0HRW warned that targeting him and other rights defenders undermines civil society and risks normalizing abuse.<\/p>\n

The watchdog urged the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanka to clarify whether any warrant exists for Namwaya\u2019s arrest and called on Kenya\u2019s international partners to press Nairobi to end what it described as \u201charassment of civil society and rights activists.\u201d<\/p>\n

While HRW has demanded a formal response and protection guarantees for Namwaya, the DCI has maintained that no investigation or official action is being taken against him.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 9 \u2014 The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has denied allegations that its officers harassed or surveilled Otsieno Namwaya, the Associate Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), saying he is not under investigation. In a statement on Tuesday, the DCI said it had \u201cno involvement with Mr. Otsieno or his associates,\u201d directly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}