NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 19- Lobby group, the Independent Medico-Legal Unit is calling for the immediate suspension of the newly deployed Nakuru County Commander Peter Mwanzo, over the execution of four men, said to have been members of a criminal gang identified as ‘Confirm.’
IMLU has asked the National Police Service Internal Affairs Unit and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority to take up the matter after an autopsy on the bodies of the four youthful men revealed they were shot at close range.
The lobby group further wants the police officers involved in the killing of the four suspects to be suspended, “investigated, charged and prosecuted without further delay.”
Police identified the four suspects as Collins Kibet (16), Collins Kipkorir (21), Kevin Kipyegon (20) and Dennis Kipchirchir (23).
“They were summarily killed by bullets discharged from police officers’ guns,” IMLU Executive Director Peter Kiama said.
An autopsy report on the four bodies reveals they were shot at close range.
“This is manifested by gunshot wounds that were identified on the head, chest, and abdomen,” Kiama explained in a statement to Newsrooms on Wednesday.
According to the report, two of the suspects were shot while standing in an upright position while the two others were kneeling, “thus the gun’s nasal was faced downwards.”
“They were shot from behind and one from the side,” the IMLU boss added.
“Further examination of the bodies showed that the bodies were dragged on the ground which implies that the place where they were collected was a secondary crime scene. There was no evidence of defensive wounds on the bodies.”
Kiama said the killings, “demonstrates a failure by the government to respect the rule of law and the right to life. The executions are a gross violation of human rights including the right to life as prescribed under Article 26, the right to a fair trial for suspected criminals under Article 50 (1), protection from inhumane and degrading treatment under Article 29 (f), and other incidental rights that extend to family members and the communities where the alleged criminals reside.”
According to family members’ and witnesses’ accounts, the slain men were picked from their house in Kwa Maiko village in Nakuru West Sub-County.
“They were thereafter taken to Dennis Kipchirir’s house in Kwa Maiko village, where they were executed in cold blood. Witnesses’ reports indicate that there was no violent confrontation with the officers as earlier reported the Police Commander, Peter Mwanzo,” he said.
The four suspects are said to have been marked for killing.
The police service has increasingly been on the spot over rising cases of executions and enforced disappearance in the country.
In 2020 and 2021, we documented a total of 115 cases of police killings; 41 in 2020 and 74 in 2021, an increase of 80 percent.
The 2021 police killings happened in 59 police stations across 25 counties, “meaning the practice is widespread.”
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