NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 26- A lobby group in Kenya documented tens of cases of police brutality amidst a ravaging COVID-19 global pandemic, that has so far claimed 3,556 lives in Kenya.
And as the disease claimed lives, statistics by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit indicates that actions linked to police also did, from March 2020 to this year.
In the first 10 days of enforcing protocols meant to curb the spread of the disease, including a dawn to dusk curfew, IMLU documented 6 deaths attributed to police violence.
By October 3, 2020, the lobby group said it had handled 68 cases of extrajudicial executions and torture from 15 Counties.
“These included 25 cases of extra-judicial executions and 43 cases of torture and ill-treatment. Of these, 58 victims were male while 10 were female,” IMLU Executive Director Peter Kiama said, during an event to mark the world the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The lobby group said it had carried out 19 autopsies and prepared forensic and legal documentation “which is critical in criminal proceedings and redress mechanisms. These subsequently formed the basis of further action by IPOA.”
Kiama noted that April 27, 2020, the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR), a state sponsored body, had received 117 complaints relating to the pandemic, out of which 66 related to the use of excessive force by the National Police Service (NPS).
By June of the same year, the statistics had risen to 220.
“Similarly, IPOA reported receiving 93, some 21 relating to death, complaints against police officers,” the lobby group said.
This year alone, between January and June 23, IMLU said it had monitored and documented 59 cases of alleged police brutality.
They included 5 cases of death while in custody, 36 cases of summary execution, 8 cases of enforced disappearance and 9 as a result of alleged torture.
Nairobi County tops with the highest number of executions recording a total of 19, followed by Mombasa with 5.
Out of the 59 cases, thirty-six were allegedly perpetrated by police officers.
“The number of cases of torture, violence, inhumane and degrading treatment from January 2020 to Dec 2020 as compared to January to June 2021 indicates an increase in the violation of the security of the person,” Kiama said.
He added that, “In 2020 from January to December 59.56% of the cases reported were torture, violence, inhumane and degrading treatment. Out of the torture cases recorded in 2020, there have been 2.4pc cases of subsequent deaths that have been registered. These in essence can be clarified as extrajudicial executions.”
“In 2021 from January from June 60.71 percent of the cases reported were torture, violence, inhumane and degrading treatment.”
He cautioned that if there was no intervention to reverse the worrying trend, by the end of 2021, “we shall have an increase of approximately 61.86pc in the cases of Torture, inhumane and degrading treatment. This is in comparison to the January to December 2020.”
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