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Police have killed 14 people extrajudicially this year – IMLU – VIDEO

By Joseph Ndunda February 15th, 2020 2 min read

Civil society organisations on Friday sensationally claimed that police committed 107 extra-judicial killings last year and that 14 other people have so far lost their lives through similar means this year alone.

The organisations have demanded the implementation of the National Coroner’s and Prevention of Torture Acts immediately to end extra judicial killings in the country.

The CSOs said almost 7 out of every ten people killed through extra-judicial means were mostly the youth aged between 18-35 and one out of every five killed comprised of youngsters aged below 18.

The revelations are contained in a report released jointly by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) and Amnesty International Kenya.

“With close to 80 percent of those killed in 2019 being below the age of 35, Kenya is heading on a slippery slope where we seem to criminalise youths,” said IMLU Director Peter Kiama during the join media briefing.

The 14 killed since January 1, including 17-year-old Stephen Machurusi killed in Mwiki, Kasarani area in Nairobi during matatu protests and 19-year-old Hemedi majini shot dead in Majengo slums by police officers.

Three others were killed at Majini’s burial and a child lost their eyesight after being hit by a stray bullet as cops shot at the three.

The IMLU boss and Amnesty International Kenya chairperson Renee Ngamau challenged the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and Interior CS Fred Matiang’I to puclicly condemn police executions.

“Despite positive efforts to reform the police with latest efforts by IG commanding that all officers should wear uniforms while on duty, disbanding of SPIV and Flying Squad that have in the past been accused of killings we saw a spike in police killings in Januaruy with about 14 Kenyans being killed,” Kiama added.

Mutyambai disbanded all the SPIV teams in October last year and the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti folded the Flying Squad Unit on December 31.