Karua, Mutunga and activists sue Suluhu government over deportations, demand apology

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Narc party leader Martha Karua and four other Kenyans have sued Tanzania for denying them entry to attend the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu on May 18.
They are seeking special damages for contravening their rights, a public apology and removal of ‘refusal entry’ stamp from their passports.
In a petition filed at the East African Court of Justice, Dr Mutunga and the human rights defenders state that denying them entry had no justification and likely jeopardises the objectives and implementation of the East African Community Treaty and East African Community Common Market Protocol.
Others who have sued are Gloria Kimani, a Law Society of Kenya (LSK) council member, Lynn Ngugi, Hussein Khalid and Hanifa Adan, who were denied entry into Tanzania on May 18. Lissu's trial was scheduled for May 19.
“The actions of the respondent (Tanzanian government) against the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6 applicants as affected residents of the East African Community, in their detention and refusal of entry, constitute a failure on the part of the respondent to abstain from measures likely to jeopradise the objectives or implementation of the provisions of the Treaty and Protocol, as required under Article 8(1)(c) of the East African Community Treaty, 1999 (as amended),” the petition stated.
East African Law Society (EALS) and Pan African Lawyers Union (Palu) are also petitioners in the case filed before the regional court.
The activists are seeking special damages for travel-related costs, general damages for contravention of their rights and for subjecting them to mental anguish, pain and suffering.
“An order restraining the Respondent from further infringements of the right to free movement of persons of residents of the East African Community,” their lawyer Dr Henry Onoria said.
Dr Mutunga said he, together with Mr Khalid and Ms Hanifa, arrived at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Da es Salaam on May 18 as part of an international observer group to attend the treason trial of Mr Lissu.
He stated that they were detained for several hours by immigration authorities and their passports confiscated without any stated reasons, before being told to book return flights to Kenya.
“After many hours of sitting on the bench and later taken to the offices of the immigration officers, the three of us (Mutunga, Khalid and Hanifa) were informed that we have been denied entry into the country,” Dr Mutunga said in an affidavit.
They argue that the actions were arbitrary, unlawful and lack justification under Tanzanian immigration law, the East African Community Treaty and East African Common Market Protocol, 2009.
“As an EAC citizen and a legal practitioner, I am aware of my right to free movement within the East African Community under Article 104 of the Treaty establishing the East African Community and Article 7 of the East African Community Common Market Protocol,” Ms Karua said.