US State Department calls for probe into police abuse claims

What you need to know:

  • The State Department on Tuesday urged Kenyan authorities to investigate alleged killings by the unit.
  • State Department official implied that the US would consider the recommendation that donor assistance to unit should be suspended.

NEW YORK

Allegations that anti-terrorism police are executing suspects are serious and should be investigated, the US State Department said on Tuesday.

The US is one of the biggest financiers of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, providing $19 million in 2012.

The State Department on Tuesday urged Kenyan authorities to investigate alleged killings by the unit. It said it was reviewing charges of the unit’s abuses contained in an August 18 report by Human Rights Watch.

The allegations of the unit’s apparent involvement in 10 extra-judicial killings and 10 cases of enforced disappearances are “serious and merit good-faith investigation by Kenya authorities,” an official told the Nation via e-mail.

The official implied that the US would consider the recommendation that donor assistance to unit should be suspended.

The department was, however, undertaking its own review of the reported abuses.

“We condemn human rights abuses by security forces and take very seriously our responsibility to withhold or condition our assistance in light of applicable legal and ethical requirements,” he said.

In training of Kenyan law-enforcement personnel, the US aims at enhancing their capacity to “carry out very difficult jobs professionally and in accordance with international human rights norms. We are also providing support for police oversight bodies to improve accountability and transparency,” the official added.

CLERICS KILLED

Until now, neither Kenya nor the US has effectively investigated “horrendous conduct” on the part of police unit, “despite credible allegations of abuse, including in the US annual human rights report on Kenya,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“The anti-terror police unit has been conducting abuses for years yet the Kenyan authorities have done nothing to investigate,” Lefkow added.

The report made specific reference to “the targeted killings of high-profile clerics.”