By Patrick Ochieng’
The trophy of James Lawson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonviolent Conflict is glowing at his downtown Mombasa office.
This is one of many excellent appreciations to Haki Africa’s executive director Mr. Hussein Khalid, a strong defender of human rights, an enthusiastic challenger of brutality, oppression, and injustice.
“It was my greatest breakthrough,” Hussein told The Plu “It came at a time when I was contemplating stopping activism following government shut-down. I thought on whether to push on”
Coming from a devastated and marginalized region where infringement of basic human rights is almost a daily incident, Hussein knew that going back was not an option.
What followed were deep thoughts about dynamics of nonaggressive civil resistance that this man has had to engage in throughout the rest of his career.
The award invigorated his insatiable desire to fight for the rights of his people and for years he has spoken very deeply and passionately about every issue affecting his predominantly Muslim community.
Hussein who is the fourth born in a family of eight is a courageous activist who has had to stand the greatest trial of his lifetime and his efforts have not been vainly.
Hussein says he couldn’t ask for more when International Center on Nonviolent Conflict recognized his efforts in June 22, 2016. He was rewarded for his extraordinary use of civil resistance to challenge injustices that impact millions worldwide.
He says he supports government effort in fighting terrorism and crime. But in the process of doing this, he insists, human rights should not be violated.
Background
Hussein started activism while still a secondary school student because of what he calls “passion to stand for justice”.
He first worked at the Center for Law and Research International (CLARION) as a personal assistant to programs coordinator Lawrence Muite – a blind lawyer.
Because of the lawyer’s disability, Khalid read law books and recorded them in a tape for references.
“That is where my interest in law was generated because part of my work was to record legal journals through voicing. I started reading legal literature and I grasped law at an early age,” he remembers.
He was promoted to become program assistant then program officer. Around this time, his human right activism started taking some shape and form.
The father of two left CLARION in 2005 and joined Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) for two years where he worked as a program officer. The contract was transferred to Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI).
“I worked with MUHURI from the year 2006-2013. I started as the program’s coordinator, two years later, I was promoted to the position of executive director, the role I played until I left,” he says.
HAKI Africa’s bigger platform and plans to broad wings across Africa attracted Hussein.His participation in training on Fundamentals of Social Accountability in South Africa, International Humans Rights Law at the University of Nottingham in the UK and security in USIU gives him the zeal to take issues head-on.
Threats
Billed as the most dangerous job by Pakistani activist Hina Jilani the threats accompanying activism is real and Hussein has faced his fair share of warnings and ultimatums.
Occasionally he has put his life on the line to challenge those in authority, destructive corporations, and religious groups.
Yet he has braved a catalog of a coordinated strategy of defamation, criminalization and sometimes intimidation to silence his peaceful but powerful activism.
Endless methods have been applied to attempt dissuading him from raising his voice against injustice, discrimination, and oppression. But he is not budging.
“The fear for life is a job hazard when you are a human rights defender. We get threats every day,” he notes
To date, he cannot get a certificate of good conduct – a vital document – for taking the government directly on the fight against forceful disappearance and extra-judicial killings.
“The government says my numerous arrests are the reasons it can’t give me the document,” he says.
His human rights advocacy career has seen him arrested 18 times, beaten, tortured and charged. He has not been convicted despite these frequent arrests.
“Currently, there are six ongoing cases. One includes the M-Pigs incident,” he says.
In 2013, protesters in Kenya released a pig and about a dozen piglets outside parliament to show their anger at Members of Parliament (MP) who were demanding higher salaries. The animals licked blood spilled by a protester outside the parliamentary gates in the capital, Nairobi. The unusual demonstration, organized by civil society groups and attended by Hussein was intended to portray the MPs as greedy. This is where the M-Pigs phrase was coined.
“These court cases are interfering with our work. Hearings dates are not set and if the state wants to harass you, they can revive cases and have you arrested” he says.
Lost friends
He has lost friends in the line of duty – including the famous lawyer Willy Kimani who was tortured before being killed and his body dumped in a river. He was representing Josephat Mwendwa, also dead, who is claimed to have been wrongfully shot by police.
In 2005, Hussein lost another friend in a protest against change in the constitution. He says the person was fatally shot by a stray bullet believed to have been fired by police.
“Sometimes human rights defenders lose their lives in defending the rights of others. My appeal is Kenyans should appreciate the work done by them,” he advised.
Hussein says his focus is on extra-judicial killing because it is the worst form of human rights violation.
“In the case of extra-judicial killings, it is my money that is used to buy bullets and guns to kill Kenyans. We may agree they are criminals but we need to improve security without killing,” he says
