By Brian Kimani, NAIROBI
Kenya
Kenya Interior minister, Kithure Kindiki says 42 Kenyans died during the anti-government protests from June to August, disputing the findings from several human rights groups that place the figure at 61.
Appearing before the National
Assembly Security and Administration Committee on Thursday, Kindiki explained
that the Committee received a report detailing the information of 30 people who
were killed during the protests and the circumstances around which they
died.
He, however, pleaded with the
Committee to be granted 24 hours to provide the information on the remaining 12
cases, reassuring the MPs that the government has nothing to hide.
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police fired on Nairobi protesters" - AmnestyKenya Interior minister, Kithure Kindiki
"What I'm pleading
is to be given 24 hours to provide the other 12 in supplementary information as
I've said the government has nothing to hide. We cannot hide the fact that a
Kenyan has died. What we need to do is to find the circumstances in which they
died and if there's a culpability even by a security officer, we ensure that
justice is served," he noted.
Kindiki also defended how the
police dealt with the protests, insisting that there was no proof of brutality.
He added that the government
does not have a policy on abductions, and insisted that there is no proof of
the police being responsible for the 132 Kenyans that are still missing.
"Myself, including the
President himself, have made it clear that this administration does not condone
abductions or extra-judicial killings or enforced disappearances. It is unfair
to visit the policy on extra-judicial killings unless we're provided with
evidence of policy pronouncements that support this unlawful behaviour,"
Kindiki pointed out.
"If police never used
lethal force during the invasion of Parliament, we would never have a Kenya
like we have today."
"The fact that a Kenyan
was shot in the vicinity of police during the protests is not evidence enough
that the police are the ones who shot the Kenyans," he added.
Kindiki's figures contradict
the findings made by Amnesty International and other Human Rights groups
that described police actions during the protests as
chaotic and uncoordinated.
"The level of violence
and disregard for human rights during the protest is unacceptable, The
authorities had ample time to prepare for a peaceful protest, but instead, the
response was characterized by excessive use of force," reads part of a Wednesday
report by Amnesty.
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