Amnesty International Kenya and Human Rights Watch have expressed concern that two months after a series of nationwide protests in Kenya, insufficient action has been taken to hold police officers and their commanders accountable for the disproportionate use of force in the killings of at least 12 people, shooting and beating of many others.
In a statement, the two organizations now want the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to urgently conclude their investigations into all deaths and the unjustified use of force by the police.
At the same time, they want the National Police Service (NPS) to publicly guarantee the right of everyone to peaceful assembly and protest in future.
“The Kenyan authorities should stop glossing over the abuse of protesters by the police and other acts of violence,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “They should urgently and thoroughly investigate police abuse during recent protests, including the failure to protect demonstrators from attacks by others.”
Between April 7 and 17, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Kenya interviewed 115 witnesses and victims of police violence during protests in Nairobi, Kisumu, Migori and Homa Bay towns. The organizations found that riot police repeatedly attacked people and used excessive and unnecessary force, including lethal force, to suppress the protests on March 20, 27 and 30.
“Brutal policing of protests guaranteed under our constitution is unacceptable,” said Irũngũ Houghton, Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director.
“Kenyan authorities need to take meaningful steps to pre-empt violent protests by facilitating the right to assembly and hold officers criminally accountable for unlawful policing. Failure to act on the March brutality opens the door to more violence in future.”
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The two rights organizations say that at least 12 killings by police officers during protests in interviews with family members and witnesses have been corroborated.
They are accusing police officers of killing bystanders and passersby, or people in their homes and business premises during the anti-government protests.
They cited an example of Elijah Okumu, 26, who police shot during the protests on March 27 as he was closing his shop in the Dandora neighborhood, Nairobi. Relatives rushed Okumu to Mama Lucy Hospital in eastern Nairobi and later transferred him to Kenyatta National Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Kenya also documented about 12 cases of gunshot injuries in Kisumu, Migori, Homabay and Nairobi.
“In one case, the police arrested, beat and shot a secondary school student, Brian Carlos Oduor, in Korumba, in the Riat neighborhood of Kisumu, on March 30 on suspicion that he was a protester” they said in a statement.
They have also cited the brutal police crackdown on journalists from various media outlets covering the March 30 protests on Outering Road near the Pipeline estate in Nairobi.
“The demonstrations were peaceful; people were chanting, happy and waving peacefully. The police threw tear gas at the protestors,” one journalist said. “Vehicles and protesters on foot were blocked from either side by the police with no exit route. The air was suddenly filled with tear gas and coloured water…we were trapped and gasping for air.”
According to the two organizations, the rights to life, peaceful assembly, association, and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights guaranteed under Kenya’s Constitution and international human rights treaties to which Kenya is bound, including the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The UN principles on the Use of Force and Firearms and the Second Schedule of the National Police Service Act allow the police to use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required to achieve a legitimate objective. The police should only use tear gas when necessary to prevent further physical harm and, where possible, issue an advance warning. During violent protests, the use of tear gas must be proportional to the seriousness of the offence. It must meet a legitimate law enforcement objective and be used to minimize the risk of harm. The deliberate use of lethal force is only permissible when it is strictly necessary to protect life” the stamen reads.
