\n Kenyan police were involved in the killing of 12 people, including two children, during violent opposition demonstrations in March, two rights groups said on Wednesday, denouncing a lack of accountability.\n<\/p>\n
\n Extra-judicial killings are rife in Kenya, and justice is rare with few examples of police being held to account.\n<\/p>\n
\n Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International said they documented 12 deaths during three days of anti-government protests called by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga over a cost-of-living crisis and last year's disputed election.\n<\/p>\n
\n They said in a joint statement they had \"corroborated 12 killings in interviews with family members and witnesses.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"While some of the victims were involved in the protest, most of the 12... were bystanders, passersby, or people in their homes and business premises.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Two children, including a four-month-old baby, also died from health complications after police fired tear gas into residential homes in Kibera, a densely packed slum in Nairobi, the NGOs added.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to government figures, three people died during the March unrest, including a policeman.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kenya's police force is often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods.\n<\/p>\n
\n Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, HRW researcher Nyagoah Tut Pur denounced the \"complete and utter impunity\" enjoyed by the Kenyan security forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile Irungu Houghton, Amnesty's executive director in Kenya, called for \"zero tolerance\" towards police officers guilty of abuse and violence.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Accountability -\n<\/p>\n
\n Four Kenyan police officers from a notorious unit linked to extrajudicial killings and other crimes were charged in October over the disappearance of three men whose bodies have never been found.\n<\/p>\n
\n The officers were part of the feared Special Service Unit (SSU) that was shut down by President William Ruto in October over accusations of involvement in a spate of abuses, abductions and violent murders.\n<\/p>\n
\n Prosecutors also announced later that month that they would charge police with crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on post-election protests in 2017, a landmark decision hailed by UN rights chief Volker Turk.\n<\/p>\n
\n The charges cover rape, murder and torture and include the case of a six-month-old baby girl whose death became a symbol of police brutality during the bloody election aftermath.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kenya's parliament established the International Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) in 2011 to provide civilian scrutiny of a powerful institution also reputed to be among the country's most corrupt.\n<\/p>\n
\n Only a handful of officers have been convicted as a result of IPOA investigations, even though the watchdog has examined more than 6,000 cases of alleged police misconduct, according to data covering the period from its inception to June 2020.\n<\/p>\n
\n Activists largely defend the IPOA's record, saying police often frustrate inquiries by refusing to cooperate.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to Missing Voices, a campaign group focused on extrajudicial killings in Kenya, there have been at least 1,264 deaths at the hands of police since it began collecting data in 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenyan police were involved in the killing of 12 people, including two children, during violent opposition demonstrations in March, two rights groups said on Wednesday, denouncing a lack of accountability. Extra-judicial killings are rife in Kenya, and justice is rare with few examples of police being held to account. Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-117367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n