fashioned out of boxes under harshly low temperatures and go to the toilet in a
nearby bush under the watch of guards. The Complainants further submit that the
First Complainant went on a hunger strike until she was taken for questioning by
an American man, presumed to be from the CIA who concluded that there was no
basis her detention. The Complainants submit that the First Complainant was
detained for another month, released on 23 March 2007 and forced to make her
own way back to the United Arab Emirates on the 25th of March the same year.
8. On the 10th of June 2009, it is averred that the First Complainant filed a civil case
before the Kenyan High Court against the Commissioner of Police and the
Attorney General and alleged various breaches of the Constitution of Kenya 1969.
It is alleged that on 26 August 2014, a representative of Kenya’s ATPU filed a
responsive affidavit in which it was denied that the First Applicant was ever in the
custody or detention of the Kenya Police or the ATPU as the Kenyan Police had
no written record of her arrest or detention. The First Complainant states that on
17 September 2018, the Commission of Police and the Attorney General filed their
written submissions in which they continued to deny that she was ever in police
custody and submitted that she had “not proved her case”. She further contends
that on 1 July 2021, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Judge A. C. Mrima remotely
delivered his verdict without reasons. A certified copy of the written judgment
with reasons was provided to the First Applicant’s legal team on 23 July 2021. The
Complainants submit that the Kenyan High Court dismissed the petition on the
basis that the First Applicant had failed to satisfy her burden of proof.
9. The Complainants aver that Pursuant to Kenyan procedural law, the First
Complainant had 14 days from the date the judgment was handed down remotely
(i.e., until 15 July 2021) to file a notice of appeal. The Complainants state that
although the verdict had been announced, the written reasons for the Judge’s
decision had still yet to be published and therefore, on 12 July 2021, in order to
preserve her rights, the First Complainant, filed a notice of appeal. The authors
aver that when the written judgment was certified and transmitted on 23 July 2021,
the First Complainant did not proceed to go ahead with the appeal. The
Complainants argue that this is because the First Complainant had sought legal
advice from several Kenyan lawyers on the merits of an appeal and was advised
in the strongest possible terms not to pursue an appeal.
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