By KPC Reporter
At least 31 people were killed during anti-government protests between March and July 2023, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW), recently.
The victims died due to police use of unnecessary or excessive force, involving both lethal ammunition and so-called less-lethal ammunition such as rubber bullets.
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They include 26 people who were shot (24 men and 2 women); 2 children who died following police use of tear gas in residential areas; and 3 men beaten to death by police.
Hundreds sustained serious injuries from shootings, beatings, and cuts from machetes and knives.
Kisumu was the hot spot of the human rights violation that time
HRW says that 122 cases of assault by police were reported and treated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu during the month of July alone.
The hospital said at least 47 of the patients treated at the hospital were treated for bullet wounds.
“Thirty of these people had been shot from behind, suggesting that they may have been running away from police, and another nine were shot from the side,” the report says.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), which provides civilian oversight over police conduct, said on October 29, in response to a letter from Amnesty International Kenya and Human Rights Watch seeking comment that they had investigated 67 cases of people killed during the protests between March and July 2023.
Police also used unnecessary physical force, conducted illegal home searches, and unlawfully used tear gas against protesters, bystanders, children, and individuals in their homes, businesses and on the streets.
The police used tear gas indiscriminately and recklessly in densely populated areas, including in Kibera and Mathare areas of Nairobi, Nyalenda areas in Kisumu, and near primary schools in Nairobi.
This use of tear gas led to the death of two infants, aged 4 months and 7 months.
Hundreds of children were teargassed at Kihumbuini, Bethany Joy, and Free Methodist primary schools in Nairobi as police clashed with protesters near and around the schools.
A teacher at Bethany Joy Academy told researchers that on March 27, 2023, “Community members pleaded with the police to stop throwing tear gas as children were present, but their pleas were ignored until they [police] came by and saw the school’s flag.”
Police also conducted home searches of suspected protesters in Nyalenda and Nyamasaria neighborhoods where they conducted nighttime raids in residential areas long after the protests had ended.
During such raids, the police beat two brothers, Brian and William Amulele, in Nyalenda who later succumbed to their injuries.
They also shot John Owiti while he was in the restroom of his home in Nyalenda who later died from these injuries in hospital.
Police also violently attacked protesters using canes and rungus (wooden batons), which resulted in serious blunt force injuries and even death in at least three cases.
They also hit, kicked, and slapped people including during arrests and in custody.
The authorities deployed plain clothed officers, making it difficult to ascertain the identity of police officers implicated in abuses and undermining the chances of credible accountability.
At least four witnesses said that there was heavy infiltration of protests in Nairobi and Nakuru by individuals carrying machetes, wooden batons, and sticks who were presumably working in coordination with police officers.
In most cases examined, the police failed to rescue protesters from violence by such third parties.
At least 13 witnesses reported seeing plain clothed individuals working with uniformed police officers to manage and disrupt protests, according to AI.
AI said that victims and witnesses interviewed called for justice and accountability for the abuses they suffered.
The report quotes George Oduor who was shot by a rubber bullet in his back on July 20 in Mathare, who said: “My appeal to the government is to investigate and charge the police officers responsible since, apart from myself, many Kenyans lost lives, and others were maimed.”
“This will bring justice. Without justice, we cannot live in peace.”
