KNCHR report says police raped during 2017 polls

Anti-riot police officers attempt to disperse protesters in Kisumu County on August 12, 2017. A Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Report has revealed 60 percent of sexual violence cases reported during 2017 polls were committed by security personnel. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • KNCHR Commissioner George Morara said most of the sexual violence victims did not bother to report the crimes.

  • Mr Morara said victims have low levels of confidence in law enforcement agencies.

Majority of sexual violence cases reported during the 2017 General Election were perpetrated by security personnel, a human right report revealed on Tuesday.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) report showed that 60 per cent of those cases were committed by security officers.

KNCHR Commissioner George Morara said most of the sexual violence victims did not bother to report the crimes because they have low confidence in law enforcement agencies.

Their lack of confidence, Mr Morara said, stems from lack of investigations and conviction of suspects in similar cases reported against security agents.

At the same time despite having identified their perpetrators as either security agents or community members, the survivors are not willing to disclose this information due to fear of security repercussions and victimisation by the alleged perpetrators.

Mr Moraa said in such times of electoral crisis, the main challenges included poor collection of evidence since health centres are inaccessible.

On Tuesday, survivors of sexual violence during the 2007/8 post-poll chaos marked 10 years of raising children who were conceived from the anarchy that ensued after the disputed presidential election results.

The survivors said they have been raising the children without any support from the national government.