Groups such as Release Political Prisoners, which was founded in 1992 by former detainees, and the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, an NGO, have publicized abuses and demanded respect for human rights, but leaders of the organizations have occasionally been the victims of deadly assaults. Attacks by police on ethnic minority Somali people, who must carry special identification, are reportedly common and regularly go unpunished. A series of judicial reforms was announced in 1998, but courts are still heavily influenced by the executive and cannot be relied on to protect constitutional rights or offer fair trials. Local chiefs still exercise sometimes arbitrary and violent power. Mob attacks against suspected criminals increased sharply as commentators decried a lack of public confidence in the justice system.
Prison conditions are harsh and often life threatening.
Interpol has identified Kenya as a major center for the transit of drugs from Asia to Western Europe. Freedom of expression is severely limited by lack of access to the dominant state broadcast media and continued repression of the private press. The country's few private radio and television stations are either pro-Moi or carefully apolitical, although new licenses issued in 1998 may gradually open the airwaves. Private print media remain vibrant, but under serious threat. Journalists have been charged with criminal libel, and independent publications are subject to harassment in their business operations.