Police faults report on extrajudicial killings

Police spokesperson Charles Owino addresses journalists in Nakuru on July 21, 2016. Mr Owino faulted the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, saying it had wrongly indicted officers. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The report released last week detailed human rights violations by the police — arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture — putting the government on the spot.

Police want a report implicating them in extrajudicial killings and disappearances of individuals reviewed immediately.

Police Spokesman Charles Owino faulted the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, saying it had wrongly indicted officers.

He said the report should be reviewed with the involvement of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa), the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Witness Protection Unit (WPT).

“…because police have been accused, we have Ipoa, which is a civilian authority. They have the power to investigate us. HRW should liaise with Ipoa, the DPP and the WPT and if possible come up with a report in the next 30 days,” Mr Owino said in Nakuru during a tour to inspect new police residential houses at Pinewood.

The report released last week detailed human rights violations by the police — arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture — putting the government on the spot.

The 87-page report titled Deaths and Disappearances: Abuses in Counter-Terrorism in Nairobi and North-Eastern Kenya claimed officers killed 11 people and were responsible for disappearances of 34 others in the past two years.

But Mr Owino termed the findings as one-sided and misguided.

He said: “This idea of blaming police is going to widen the gap in the relationship between police and the public. We want to be close to the public.”

He said police should not be given a blanket condemnation for failures and where officers involved in crime should be dealt with individually.