How police tried to stop recording of brutality against Nasa supporters — report

Security officers at Booker Police Patrol Base in Mumias on November 23, 2016. A report released by rights groups states that journalists were harassed, injured and arrested and their equipment destroyed when they covered police handling of protesters during the election period. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Journalists were harassed as they tried to report on police handling of protesters during the election period.
  • Several journalists were injured and arrested and their equipment destroyed.
  • IPOA says officers are not cooperating in investigations into police brutality.

Rights groups and journalists were attacked as they documented police brutality in the aftermath of August 8 polls.

In a report, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on Monday accused police of smashing phones and cameras used to document their brutal acts.

BRUTALITY

The report, titled Kill Those Criminals says, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) documented cases of at least 10 journalists countrywide who reported being harassed and being prevented from doing their job during the election period.

The report notes that threats of arrest after the elections from the Nairobi police chief also played a part in intimidating journalists and disrupting their work.

“Police smashed the camera of well-known international photographer, Neil Shea, in Kibera when he tried to photograph a youth leader being beaten,” the report reads in part.

In Mathare, an activist who tried to capture police on film had his camera snatched and smashed by police.

They then beat him for the attempt.

He said the police told him: “If you film us, it can be used as evidence; we can lose our jobs.”

PERMIT

Such experiences were common during the protests, the HRW and Amnesty International researchers say.

In Kibera, police obstructed and ejected from the area journalists who were covering protests.

KTN journalist Duncan Khaemba and cameraman David Okech were arrested for not possessing a permit for their protective clothing, while Wall Street Journal correspondent Matina Stevis was hit with a stick and told to leave the area along with others.

Police also threatened human rights defenders.

Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) said officers were not cooperating with them in their investigations into police actions in the post-election period.