The court of appeals granted a petition in part, dismissed and denied the petition in part, and remanded. The court held that the government failed to demonstrate such fundamental change of circumstances in Kenya that a political activist would no longer face a threat to her life or freedom if she were removed and returned there.
Ellinah Mutuku, a 57-year-old native and citizen of Kenya, had worked for Lutheran World Relief in Kenya. She was an organizer and supporter of the Democratic Party, the leading opposition party in Kenya at the time. In 1992, a band of armed men came looking for her, burned down her home, beat her sister and harassed her mother. The men told Mutuku’s mother that they would kill Mutuku if she did not cease her political activities.
