Dear friends and Kenyans on social media, including media houses both in Kenya and abroad, consider this a free lesson on human rights from a human rights defender and an expert on international human rights law.
First and foremost, it pains so much me to hear or see people talk about gay rights activist. There are no gay rights. Period. Only human rights.
Since the enactment of the Magna Carta Libertatum, commonly called Magna Carta, a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England on June 15, 1215, the issue of international human rights was born.
Later on after some centuries, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was enacted. On December 10 every year, including last year, we celebrate International Human Rights Day.
Beyond this is the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial.
So this concept of gay rights activist is very offensive not just in law but also historically and scholarly to some of us who know what we have been fighting for the last many decades both in Kenya and abroad.
I know there are those who may think otherwise, but let me tell you a fact. The five characters charged with the murder of Edwin Chiloba, if found guilty, will face the consequences of killing a human being and will eventually go to jail perhaps for the rest of their lives. Period. For the murder of a human being.
The Constitution of Kenya, which I was very much involved in its drafting, is crystal clear about the right to life in Article 26. In Article 27, it provides no person shall be discriminated against on any protected grounds, and they are 17 and counting since we never closed the list. It is an open list. Any court of law may add, whether now or in the near future others.
In conclusion, the same Constitution, in Article 260, read together with the above articles, will interpret the Constitution in any manner that protects the human rights of all human beings.
Edwin Chiloba was not a dog, or any other animal, but a human being with human rights like the rest of all other Kenyans protected under Article 27. His life, whether he was gay or not, matters. This notion that even if he was murdered, he was gay anyway should cease because it is nonsensical.
If you want me to quote religion, which I am seeing people wrongfully aligning themselves towards, or even culture for that matter, show me whether or where any of these two call for the killing of human beings given that life belongs to God for both.
So, fellow Kenyans, local media houses and international media, await the verdict of the High Court, and I can assure you that some people will be sent to jail, if found guilty of murdering a human being, for a very long time.
Human rights defender
