On May 11 and 12, the “Africa Forward” summit, jointly organised by France and Kenya, was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. At the invitation of the Marxist Communist Party of Kenya, peaceful protest actions organised by the World Anti‑Imperialist Platform against this summit took place.

However, the Kenyan authorities used armed soldiers to forcibly disperse the legally registered rally after only about twenty minutes, brutally suppressing it. On May 12 at approximately 11:50 a.m., soldiers illegally detained the World Anti‑Imperialist Platform delegation and international activists. Among those detained were 13 international activists: Dimitrios Patelis, a founding member of the Greek Revolutionary Theory Group; Joti Brar, representative of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist‑Leninist); Song Dan Bi, member of the International Committee of the People’s Democracy Party; Lee Sang Hun, former chairman of the People’s Democracy Party; French activist Guy Bremond; and others. Earlier, on May 11, five Kenyan activists had already been arrested.

The arrests were carried out without warrants, and the reasons for the detention were not disclosed. This is an unconstitutional and heinous political repression that flagrantly violates the Kenyan Constitution as well as international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Vienna Convention. In particular, while the constitution guarantees the freedom of peaceful assembly and maintaining public order is the duty of the police, the deployment of the military constitutes a direct violation of political neutrality and the principle of civilian control.

Behind this repression lurks the neo‑colonialist manoeuvring of French imperialism in Africa. Since being expelled from the three Sahel countries, France has been turning Kenya into a major foothold for its advance into East Africa, strengthening military and economic collusion. The Marxist Communist Party of Kenya has consistently resisted French neo‑colonialism. Its Secretary General, Booker Omole, has been a constant target of political terror, including three assassination attempts. Nevertheless, he has firmly upheld the banner of anti‑imperialist struggle.

The detained international activists are being held in dilapidated police stations in Nairobi, facing harsh conditions and human rights violations. In particular, Lee Sang Hun and Song Dan Bi of the People’s Democracy Party are reportedly protesting strongly by maintaining silence and a hunger strike from the first day of their detention. The police are also not ensuring proper medical care for Dimitrios Patelis, who needs medication for high blood pressure.

The situation took an even more dangerous turn on the afternoon of May 13. When members of the Marxist Communist Party of Kenya protested in front of the Central Police Station, demanding the immediate release of their international comrades, the police fired two shots into the air – a murderous threat. During this incident, an attempt was made to forcibly take away Secretary General Booker Omole, but he was saved thanks to the courageous resistance of his comrades. According to local sources, when the police realised he had escaped, they fired live ammunition in the direction he was fleeing. Fortunately, the bullet missed, but the scene was plunged into extreme tension.

According to local legal sources, the nine Kenyan detainees were released by the court for lack of evidence, but the five from Greece, Britain, France and the Republic of Korea are still being held in Nairobi police stations, without even formal charges having been filed. The Kenyan authorities are moving to deport them, and lawyers are filing emergency habeas corpus petitions and doing their utmost to bring the case to court. The diplomatic missions of the countries concerned have also responded, but the situation of the two activists from the Republic of Korea is reportedly particularly complicated and dangerous.

Meanwhile, in Moscow last April, an international anti‑imperialist forum was held with the participation of more than 120 left‑wing parties and organisations from 70 countries, and a new political platform, “Sovintern”, was created to organise the struggle against US hegemony. Most of the international activists arrested in Kenya took part in its founding. This incident starkly demonstrates how brutal and ruthless the violence of imperialist intervention in the struggle for the resources and fate of the African peoples can be.

Currently, voices from progressive figures and organisations in many countries around the world are growing ever louder, demanding the immediate release of all detainees, and international condemnation of the monstrous human rights violations and fascist repression by the Kenyan authorities is spreading.