Nairobi
– Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused Kenyan police of killing at
least six people and beating and extorting others while enforcing a
dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Kenya imposed the 19:00-05:00
lockdown from 27 March.
The rights watchdog said police
had imposed the measure in a “chaotic and violent manner from the
start”, sometimes whipping, kicking and tear gassing people to force them
off the streets.
“At least” six
individuals had been killed, it said.
It described the case of a
13-year-old boy who died in the capital Nairobi on 31 March after being shot
while standing on his balcony as police forced people into their homes on the
street below.
In others, a tomato seller died
in western Kakamega after being hit by a tear gas canister, while four men were
beaten to death in different parts of the country.
“It is shocking that people
are losing their lives and livelihoods while supposedly being protected from
infection,” said Otsieno Namwaya, senior Africa researcher at HRW, in a
statement.
“Police brutality isn’t just
unlawful; it is also counterproductive in fighting the spread of the
virus.”
Officers ‘rarely held to account’
The rights organisation urged
authorities to “urgently investigate” the cases of police brutality.
Kenya’s police force is often
accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful
killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods.
In January, HRW said at least
eight young men had been shot in three low-income neighbourhoods since
Christmas, and a 2019 report detailed the killings of 21 young men and boys by
police “apparently with no justification”.
“Although many killings by
the police have been well documented by both state institutions and rights
organisations, the security officers have rarely been held to account,
including by the police oversight authority,” said the statement on
Wednesday.
On 1 April, Kenyan President
Uhuru Kenyatta apologised for “some excesses” by police in the
enforcement of the curfew.
HRW criticised him for not
instructing police to end the abuses.
Kenyan police spokesperson
Charles Owino admitted there had been some problems but these had been
resolved.
“We have mechanisms of
dealing with errant police officers and actually we had a problem in the first
days (of the curfew) and those individual cases were dealt with. Some officers
were suspended and others sacked,” he told AFP.
“What HRW is doing is an
abuse of democracy. They should instead use funds to rally people to comply
instead of demonising the police.”
Stay healthy and entertained during the national lockdown. Sign up for our Lockdown Living newsletter. Register and manage your newsletters in the new News24 app by clicking on the Profile tab