Society still applauds extrajudicial killings

Protestors in Mombasa demonstrate against extrajudicial killings in July 2016. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The common denominator among most victims of police killings is poverty.
  • They may have been involved in petty crime or gang activities so most believe they deserved to die because they were an immediate and visible threat to our safety.
  • This is the strange "logic" that justifies, excuses and approves such contempt for due process.
  • What if we applied the same thinking to the not-so-poor in our society?

A year has passed since Willie Kimani, Josephat Mwenda and Joseph Muiruri were brutally assassinated by Kenyan police. The extrajudicial killing of the young lawyer Kimani and his client Mwenda and their taxi driver Muiruri provoked national outrage. We prayed, protested and warned that “never again” would such contempt for the rule of law be tolerated. We got angry but privately knew that we faced an uphill battle in the fight against summary executions.

A few weeks ago, Mombasa police entered Kisauni in search of four young men reported to be members of a criminal gang. They were dragged from their hideouts, summarily executed and buried within 24 hours because their Muslim parents didn’t want a postmortem. This was a minor news item for half a day as media houses currently prefer to headline campaign circuses.

SEVENTY-FOUR KENYANS

Police killings are so common and acceptable that they no longer make news. The Independent Medico Legal Unit recently reported that 74 Kenyans died from police bullets in the first four months of 2017. The actual figures are probably much higher but who cares? Most Kenyans applaud such trigger happy policemen in the mistaken belief that such killings are a sign that they are winning the war on crime. The political class play along with the police propaganda that criminals deserve to die and communities are much safer thanks to the police actions.

COMMON DENOMINATOR

The common denominator among most victims of police killings is poverty. They may have been involved in petty crime or gang activities so most believe they deserved to die because they were an immediate and visible threat to our safety. This is the strange "logic" that justifies, excuses and approves such contempt for due process.

What if we applied the same thinking to the not-so-poor in our society? What if police were encouraged to execute politicians who steal land from schools or internally displaced persons? What about the architects of Anglo Leasing, Goldenberg, Chickengate, Eurobond? Should the police not be permitted to eliminate them too since the courts have failed so miserably to provide restorative or retributive justice? Provocative questions indeed but in our warped thinking and crippled criminal justice system, due process is denied to the poor but mostly shields the privileged from accountability and punishment.

CHURCH'S 'SILENCE'

At last week’s memorial service for Willie Kimani and his colleagues, Njonjo Mue accused the church of “largely remaining eloquent in its silence, conspicuous in its absence and distinguished in its indifference” to extrajudicial killings. Harsh words but how often have religious leaders joined the protests or issued pastoral letters on extrajudicial killings? The only voices of outrage come from civil society but they are crying in the wilderness as police are winning the propaganda war.

Some significant progress, however, has been made with the recent passing of the Coroners Act and the Prevention of Torture Act. Police will no longer investigate summary executions carried out by their colleagues; an independent coroner will take care of that. Both Acts have potential to compensate victims and address impunity if properly implemented. However, legislation alone will not bring change if it is not accompanied by a societal attitudinal change that states that every suspect is entitled to due process in a court of law.

@GabrielDolan1