NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 6 — The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has appealed to the government to reinforce legal protections to ensure non-discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
KHRC made the plea on Friday following reports the body of an LGBTQ+ activist and model had been discovered in Uasin Gishu’s Kapseret area.
Reports suggest the box with Edwin Chiloba’s body was dumped in the area on Tuesday by a vehicle whose registration number was concealed before a Bodaboda rider alerted authorities.
The human rights lobby expressed concern over what it described as an escalation in violence targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans calling on the government to do more to ensure their safety.
“This is reprehensible and deeply unjust. Every day, the human rights of LGBTQ+ persons are being violated with little consequence for perpetrators,” KHRC said.
The commission pointed out that the brutal killing of Chiloba added to mounting “evidence of a growing epidemic of violence in the country.”
KHRC urged the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to fast-track investigations into the murder and bring his killers to books.
The Rights Commission singled out a similar incident in April 2022, where Sheila Lumumba, another member of LGBTQ+ community, was targeted and killed.
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