Kenya protests denial of access to activist Boniface Mwangi
Ministry says it is concerned about his health, overall wellbeing and the absence of information regarding his detention
Kenya has formally protested the continued detention of human rights activist Boniface Mwangi by Tanzanian authorities and wants him to be granted immediate consular access.
In a diplomatic noted to the Tanzanian ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, the government noted that, despite several requests, Kenyan officials have been denied consular access and information to Mwangi.
The note verbale by the ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs also said it is concerned about his health, overall wellbeing and the absence of information regarding his detention.
“The Ministry wishes to respectfully recall the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), to which both the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania are State Parties.”
In particular, it noted that Article 36 (a) & (c) provides inter alia that consular officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State and to have access to them, adding that nationals of the sending State shall have the same freedom with respect to communication with and access to consular officers of the sending State.
Further the Vienna Convention provides that consular officers shall have the right to visit a national of the sending State who is in prison, custody or detention, to converse and correspond with him and to arrange for his legal representation.
“They shall also have the right to visit any national of the sending State who is in prison, custody or detention in their district in pursuance of a judgement.”
“In light of the above, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs respectfully urges the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to expeditiously and without delay facilitate consular access to or release of Mr. Mwangi, in accordance with international legal obligations and diplomatic norms. The Government of Kenya reaffirms its commitment to the cordial bilateral relations that exist between the two countries and expresses the hope that this matter will be resolved swiftly and amicably, in the spirit of regional cooperation and mutual respect,” the note verbale added.
The move by the ministry, however, came after Primer Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who is also in charge of the docket, camed under fire for defending Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu’s remarks on the arrest and deportation of Kenyan lawyers and activists who had gone to Dar es Salaam to give support to their opposition leader Tundu Lissu during his trial on Monday.
Speaking during an interview with a local television station on Tuesday night, Mudavadi said: “I will not protest on Suluhu’s remarks because I think there is some truth. Let us face a few facts. The level of etiquette, insults that we see in Kenya, even though we have the freedom of speech, is sometimes going overboard to some extent. She is saying people have sometimes gone to extremes in their utterances in Kenya, which is a fact.”
