File photo of GSU Officers beat up one of the protesting youths at Kondele in Kisumu. |
By Sigomba
Ramadhani, Nairobi KENYA
At least one person
is killed in cold blood every two days in Kenya’s city of Nairobi, a rights
lobby has revealed in a damning report.
Released last week,
the Human Rights Watch’s report documented eight extrajudicial killings in
three weeks between December 25, 2019 and January 17, 2020.
Five of the cases
were in the crime-ridden Majengo slums.
The report titled No
letup in killings by Nairobi Police, reveals how police officers cover their
tracks after shooting civilians at will – walking away with slaps on their
wrists.
In one of the cases
reported on January 16, two police officers on patrol killed 24-year-old Ahmed
Majid at Majengo.
Majid was shot as he
protested the arrest of his friend Yassin Athuman, 20, who was being dragged on
the ground by the charged officers.
HRW said a witness
told them the officers attempted to plant marijuana on a defiant Yassin who
declined to part away with a bribe.
Protests over
Majid’s killings ensued the following day and police responded with excessive
force that saw four other people killed.
“Police used a lot
of force to suppress the demonstrations. They were using live bullets, in most
cases just shooting inside people’s houses or aiming at people who were not
part of the demonstrations,” the report reads.
The officer who
allegedly pumped the killer bullet into Majid’s body was arrested.
Some 7.9 kilometres
from Majengo in Mathare, two other extrajudicial victims were clawed from Good
Samaritan Children’s Home on Christmas Day and executed at Amana Petrol station
terminus in Mathare.
Peter Irungu, 19 and
Brian Mung’aru, 20 were shot dead by plain clothed officers, HRW notes, adding
that witnesses said the duo was pleading with the officers before they were
killed.
The rights watchdog
reports that police profiled them as robbers but gave conflicting accounts of
the killings.
“The Pangani Police
Station record says the two were killed in a violent robbery incident in
Mathare, but three days after the killings, the Nairobi county police commander
described the incident as ‘a shootout between police officers and three thugs’”
reads the report.
At least 10 people
were injured in the demonstrations over the murders.
“Anti-riot police
violently suppressed a protest over the young men’s killings, using live
ammunition, tear gas, and beatings. They blocked media outlets from accessing
Mathare to cover the demonstrations,” a witness told WRW.
Another victim was a
19-year-old transport worker, Stephen Machurusi, who was killed on January 17
during protests over poor road in Kasarani.
A witness said he
was shot at close range by a police officer.
“He was unaware of
the protests. He told the police that was on his way to work but one officer
just shot him in the chest”.
In the said cases,
the report notes that police used tricks like tampering with the scenes to
cripple investigations.
It says they
deliberately failed to file a preliminary report on the killings or initiated
the process of an inquest as stipulated by the Police Service Act.
The Act requires
police officers who use lethal fire to explain the circumstances that
necessitated the use of such force.
Police are only
allowed to use excessive force when it is unavoidable to protect human life as
guided by the National Police Service Act of 2011.
“Police officers
also are required to report for investigation any use of force that leads to
death or serious injury to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority
(IPOA),” the report explains.
The report further
notes that the police did not allow the victims and their family members to
file reports over the incidents.
HRW also notes that
police collected and hid bullets casings before investigators arrived at the
crime scenes.
The rights agency
says that IPOA only launched investigations into the Mathare killings and
Majid’s while other cases are not being investigated.
Since IPOA’s inception
in 2011, the oversight agency has only convicted six of the over 2000 cases in
its desk.
HRW opines that
police do not cooperate with IPOA in identifying rogue officers.
The World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) have ranked Kenya Police 125 out of 127, making them the 3rd worst police force in the world with Nigeria being the worstest. - The Standard
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