Police ‘gun down’ 233 in less than two years

Police have killed 233 people in the past 16 months, a human rights group said yesterday as it protested over the increase in extra-judicial killings.

The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) said while the law allows police to use firearms in instances where their lives or those of other people are in danger, only 18 of the 233 deaths were precipitated by use of firearms to protect lives.

Majority of other cases — 177 — resulted from suspected summary executions while the circumstances surrounding the remaining 38 remain unclear. 

The lobby group further claimed that in the first four months of this year, 90 people had died from use of lethal force by police, a significant rise from the 27 deaths recorded in the same period last year.

IMLU Programmes Manager Hadley Muchela told the Press in Nairobi: “These statistics put into question the commitment of the National Police Service to the respect of the right to life under Article 26 of the Constitution and the assumption of innocence until proven guilty.”

IMLU executive director Peter Kiama cited suspected extra-judicial killings in Nyeri, where five people were found dead in Tagwa forest.

“Our preliminary investigations have revealed that the deceased were taken to Central Police Station in Nyeri on April 16, at 10pm, but were not recorded in the Daily Occurrence Book as should have been the case,” said Mr Kiama.

“Incidentally, the five were found dead the following day and no spent cartridges were found at the scene.