Edwin Chiloba: Kenyan LGBTQ activist killed

Status: 06.01.2023 18:03

Kenyan police have found the body of a well-known Kenyan fashion designer and LGBTQ activist. Edwin Chiloba was apparently the victim of a violent crime. The investigations have been started.

Police in Kenya have launched an investigation into the death of an LGBTQ activist. The body of Kenyan fashion designer and gay rights activist Edwin Chiloba was found in a metal box on a road in Uasin Gishu district in the west of the country. The Kenya Human Rights Commission said Chiloba was the victim of another heinous act of homophobic violence.

The driver of a motorcycle taxi, according to investigators, had seen the box being unloaded from a vehicle without number plates and reported his observation to the police. An autopsy should clarify the cause of death. Police spokeswoman Resila Onyango said a motive for the crime was not yet known.

“The killing was horrific in itself, but the horrific way in which his body was dumped makes the situation even more humiliating,” said the Kenyan Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC).

Image: via REUTERS

Not the first attack

Chiloba was a well-known LGBTQ activist and fashion designer and had been physically attacked for his involvement in the past, his friend Denis Nzioka tweeted. Local activist Njeri Migwi tweeted that he embodied fashion. Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard called for a full and independent investigation into Chiloba’s death.

Homosexuality is a criminal offense in Kenya

“It is truly worrying that we continue to see an escalation of violence against LGBTQ Kenyans,” the Human Rights Commission of Kenya said. “Every day the human rights of LGBTQ people are violated, with little consequence for the perpetrators.” The organization called on the authorities to swiftly investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

LGBTQ people in Kenya complain of discrimination and attacks. Homosexuality is punishable in Kenya: same-sex sex can sometimes even be punished with imprisonment of up to 14 years. Demands for justice were also raised outside the country: the Ghanaian human rights organization Rightify called on Kenyan President William Ruto to ensure the protection and promotion of the human rights of sexual and gender minorities.

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