East African court receives petition demanding prosecution of Ruto for protest-related deaths

Francis Awino, the president of Bunge la Mwananchi, has petitioned the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to hold the Kenya Kwanza administration accountable for the injuries and fatalities that occurred during the Gen Z protests.
Awino stated in a notice to the court in Arusha that the government had infringed their constitutional right to protest, causing harm, fatalities, kidnappings, and forcible evictions.
He cited claims from human rights organizations that put the number of protest-related deaths at sixty and sixty-six inexplicable disappearances.
Awino pleaded with the court to impose criminal penalties on President William Ruto, his deputy Rigathi Gachagua, the Attorney General, the Cabinet Secretary for the Interior, Kithure Kindiki, and the former Inspector General, Japhet Koome.
In addition, Awino asked the court to require the AG to look into the human rights violations that occurred during the protests and to stop all police from using violence against demonstrators.
The president of Bunge la Mwananchi cited the Githurai shooting in his petition, alleging that protesters were shot by military officers, leaving casualties in their wake. He continued by saying that thousands of people in Mathare, Mukuru, and Kibera were forcibly removed from their houses by the state, which also repressed the media by interfering with internet access during the demonstrations.
“While demolitions in slums were aggressively pursued, similar structures in affluent areas were largely untouched, highlighting a discriminatory application of the law,” the notification stated in part.
“Police brutality has coincided with the demolitions, inflicting injuries and fatalities on the local population. Notably, a 17-year-old kid lost his life in the Mathare slums while resisting forcible evictions.”