John Paul Oulu
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2010-029-006
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2010
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: -0.023559
Longitude: 37.906193
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Kenya
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- Dates of prior UN action
- 5 March 2009; 6 March 2009; 29 March 2009; 26 May 2009
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Communications and Advocacy Director of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic; had been particularly active in reporting on police death squads
- Type of rights defended
- Accountability & impunity
- Civil/political rights
- Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
had been in contact with the Special Rapporteur in the course of his visit
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- in the course of visit 16-25 February 2009
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 5 March 2009
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Nairobi
- Reprisal information
On 5 March 2009, two human rights defenders who had been in contact with the Special Rapporteur in the course of his visit, Oscar Kamau Kingara, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic, and John Paul Oulu, its Communications and Advocacy Director, were killed in Nairobi. A few hours after the killing of Mr. Kingara and Mr. Oulu the Special Rapporteur issued a press release. He stated, inter alia, “that it was inevitable under the circumstances for suspicion to fall upon the police in relation to these killings”
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Physical attack: Killing
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- Yes
- Further case development
The delegation of Kenya took the floor and stated its commitment to human rights and to cooperation with special procedures, and promised an investigation into the matter. No information about such an investigation is available to date.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 2
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2012
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
- The killings of OscarKamau Kingara and John Paul Oulu on 5 March 2009, following their meeting with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary orarbitrary executions during his country visit to Kenya in January 2009 (A/HRC/11/2/Add.6), have been referred to in my previous reports.15The Deputy High Commissioner made specific reference to these cases in the Human Rights Council on 29 March 2009 andthe Kenyan delegation took the floor to state its commitment to investigatethe killings. It is a matter of particular regret that at the time of completionof the presentreport in July 2012, information has been received from various sources indicating that there has been noprogress on an investigation. At the time of completion ofthereport, the Government hadnot responded to the communication sent by several special procedures on 13 March 2009(A/HRC/11/2/Add.1, pp. 252-255).
- Followup Trends 0
- Stayed same
- Did the government respond? 0
- No
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 1
- 2011
- Follow up information provided in SG report 1
- In his report on follow-up to country recommendations, onKenya), the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions referred to the killings of two prominent human rights defenders – Oscar Kamau Kingara and John Paul Oulu – who were mentioned in my previous annual report,26 with whom he had met.2779. The Special Rapporteur recalled that the Government had been requested to provide information on the steps taken to ensure that all forms of violence, intimidation and harassment against human rights defenders, particularly those who have cooperated with the Special Rapporteur, were brought to an end. The Government had also been requested to provide information on the investigations and criminal proceedings regarding the killing ofMr. Kingara and Mr. Oulu. Two years later, the Government has yet to respond to the communication.
- Followup Trends 1
- Stayed same
- Date of follow up 1
- 7 May 2010
- Did the government respond? 1
- No