When the cop on the beat is a killer
Investigation reveals disturbing pattern of extrajudicial killings by ordinary street officers
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan officers are killing unarmed terror suspects, shakedown victims and even children — spreading fear, breeding corruption and complicating efforts to deal with terrorism, an Associated Press investigation has found.
Although death squads have long been known to operate in Kenya, a dozen interviews with victims, police, lawyers, activists and analysts suggest a big share of the violence is also being carried out by ordinary beat cops. Evidence examined by AP suggests they are almost never punished.
“The broader picture here is one of utter impunity,” said Leslie Leftow, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division. “My fear is that the pattern of extrajudicial killings will only worsen.”
Concerns about impunity were also raised when the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor in The Hague on Friday dropped all “crimes against humanity” charges against Kenya’s president for lack of evidence. That case was linked to violence after the 2007 elections.
In its investigation of killings by police, the AP spoke to six family members of victims who say their relations either disappeared or were found dead after being taken into police custody. One human rights lawyer said officers shot a 14- year- old during a botched raid and tried to dump her body in a forest. Two survivors of a May 13 police shooting in Nairobi said an officer killed their friend after failing to extort a bribe.
One officer said he had taken part in a killing in Nairobi.
“I took part in an extrajudicial killing at the time there was pressure to reduce muggings downtown and we needed to send a message,” the officer said, without giving details on
My fear is that the pattern of extrajudicial killings will only worsen.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
who was killed.
“Illegal killings are the norm rather than the exception,” Dr. Eric Thuo, a forensic specialist at the Independent MedicoLegal Unit, a Kenyan human rights organization, wrote in a recent report.
Thuo combed through the forensic records for 1,873 gun-shot-related deaths in six major urban areas between 2009 and 2014. He found that police were involved in nearly two- thirds of those deaths, many of them suspected assassinations.
Some killings take place in broad daylight. Mohammed Gulow, 34, and Adan Hussein, 33, saw their 21- year- old friend Aliyow Alinoor shot dead by police on a street corner in Nairobi’s Mukuru slum after the survivors say they failed to pay a 50,000 Kenyan shilling ( roughly $ 550 US) bribe.
Kenyan police spokeswoman Zipporah Mboroki declined to comment about the allegations of police executions. The Independent Police Oversight Authority would not comment on how many of the police killings were suspected of being extrajudicial assassinations.
But three senior officers confirmed that extrajudicial killings were common. Bosses are well aware of what’s going on, the officers said, adding that, in some cases, the orders to kill suspects come from the bosses themselves.
All three officers insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Some of the killings are justified in the press as part of Kenya’s fight against terrorism. That’s what happened in the case of Yousef Mohamed, Mohamed Kaburu, Kevin Kahuri, Simon Kingori and Martha Wairimu, whose bodies were found deep in a forest near the central Kenyan city of Nyeri on April 17.
Media accounts cited unnamed officers as linking the youth to the Somali terror group al- Shabaab. Their families deny it.
Western governments have spent millions of dollars to help Kenya control the terror threat. The U. S. alone provides an average of $ 8 million US in anti- terrorism training to Kenyan police every year, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Exactly how much money goes where is kept secret. Britain’s Foreign Office says it gives training and “capacity building support” to anti- terror police but refuses to put a figure on the assistance.
In a statement, it said the money was being spent to boost security “in line with domestic and international law.”
Kenyan officials at the interior ministry and elsewhere did not return messages seeking comment.
Occasionally, police are called to account for the deaths.
Two officers were recently charged with the killing of Kwekwe Mwandaza, 14, whose house in a Kenyan coastal village was raided by officers on Aug. 22. The officers shot her in the head and tried to dump her body in the forest, according to human rights lawyer Harun Ndubi.
But impunity remains the norm. Few families get justice. Some never even get answers.
Abdifatah Odowa Adan, a 30- year- old bus company manager, disappeared on May 5. He had been stopped by five men, one of whom flashed a police badge.
Mohammed Korane Abdi, Adan’s relative, said the manager’s whereabouts remain unknown.
“We, as his brothers, have the right to know if he is alive or dead,” said Abdi. “If he is alive let him be charged in court, but at least we will know that he is alive. If he is dead, let his people bury him.
“The uncertainty is too much to bear.”