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Four young Kenyan men who went missing just before the Christmas holidays have been found alive, family members and rights groups say.<\/p>\n
Kenya has been gripped by a wave of disappearances, with the state-funded rights group saying that over 80 people have been abducted in the last six months.<\/p>\n
The abductions generally target government critics and are widely believed to be the work of security agents, although the government has not admitted responsibility.<\/p>\n
They began in June last year during nationwide anti-tax protests, but they increased in December, when AI-generated photos of the president in a coffin were widely shared.<\/p>\n
The youth-led protests forced President William Ruto to withdraw a series of planned tax rises and shook his government, leaving his authority badly undermined.<\/p>\n
Those released on Monday include 24-year-old student Billy Mwangi in Embu, in the central Mount Kenya region.<\/p>\n
Local MP Gitonga Mukunji told journalists that Mr Mwangi “was whipped and beaten while in a dark room. He is traumatised”.<\/p>\n
His father said he was not able to discuss what he had gone through and had been taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
“He came home around eight in the morning. He walked by himself – his mother and I saw him. We thank everyone who has prayed and supported him,” he told the Daily Nation news site.<\/p>\n
Last week, Mr Mwangi’s father broke down in court as he pleaded for his son to be released.<\/p>\n
A relative of 22-year-old Peter Muteti, who was seized in the capital on 21 December, told the BBC on Monday that he had been reunited with the family but was disoriented and unable to speak about the ordeal.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International Kenya welcomed the releases and urged “the State to free all abductees and hold those responsible accountable”.<\/p>\n