Activists holding a peaceful protest against inhumanity in Sudan were on Wednesday tear-gassed by police in Nairobi County.
The horrors in Sudan against civilians by the military came after the army toppled ex-president Omar Al Bashir.
The protest dubbed as #Africans4Sudan brought together rights group including Pawa254, Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Amnesty International and Sudanese nationals.
The activists had planned to march to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Parliament and the President’s office at Harambee house but were barred by the police officers who threw tear gas to disperse them.
However, the protestors who were determine to present their petition to the government of Kenya over its silence on the terror happening in Sudan started singing patriotic songs and gathered again.
“We are extremely concerned about the silence by African leaders because what is happening in Sudan has a huge direct implication for the region. If Sudan unhinges the way it is threatening to, there will be a huge refugee crisis that affects the entire region,” activists George Kegoro of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) told the press.
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“South South already has problems and the fact that Sudan was stable it enabled some level of stability in South Sudan. Now if we have South Sudan unstable, and Sudan becomes unstable, we are going to have a movement of people who feel insecure coming down to the borders of Kenya and Uganda,” he added.
The protestors who claimed they had obtained a permit from the police condemned the action taken against them during their protest.
Central Officer Commanding Station Simon Kerich restricted the gathering by the protesters to Uhuru Park telling the dissenters, “There will be no demonstration.”
The activists were protesting the recent killing of at least 100 civilians by the Sudanese security forces early this month when the military cracked down on a sit-in by pro-democracy protesters, outside army headquarters in the Capital Khartoum.
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Protesters in Sudan have been agitating for an expeditious takeover of a civilian rule from a Transitional Military Council established following the removal from power of President Omar Al-Bashir on April 11, after an autocratic rule that lasted for three decades.
