Kenyan police charged with crimes against humanity over 2017 crackdown
In a landmark decision, 12 Kenyan police officers will face charges of crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on post-election protests in 2017, prosecutors have announced.
The charges include rape, murder and torture and the case of a six-monthold girl whose death became a symbol of police brutality during the election aftermath.
“This is the first case of crimes against humanity charged under Kenyan domestic law using the International Crimes Act and also the first criminal prosecution of electoral-related sexual violence,” the director of public prosecutions (DPP), Noordin Haji, said on Friday.
An official at the prosecutor’s office said 12 mainly senior police officers were facing charges.
Dozens of people were killed over a four-month period during a police crackdown after the disputed presidential election in August 2017.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights documented 94 deaths during the crisis, as well as 201 cases of sexual violence and more than 300 injuries – most of which were attributed to security forces.
“The attacks were planned, coordinated and not random,” the DPP said, adding that various offences such as torture, rape and sexual violence “were committed by or under the authority of senior national police officers”.
The baby, Samantha Pendo, died after being beaten by police during a raid on her house as protests flared in the western city of Kisumu.
Officers fired teargas into their house and beat down the door before raining blows on the couple with batons while the mother held Samantha in her arms.
An autopsy showed that Samantha had sustained acute head injuries including a skull fracture.
A Kenyan inquest in 2019 found five police commanders liable for her death but although they were later convicted they have never served time behind bars.
Extrajudicial killings are rife in Kenya, and justice is rare, with few examples of police being held to account.
The new UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, welcomed the Kenyan prosecutor’s “groundbreaking” decision, saying it was “an important advance towards accountability for gross human rights violations in Kenya”.
Türk said it was “a positive step towards justice and accountability for survivors and families of victims, including in the context of electoral violence, and can strengthen prevention of future violations”.
Haji said on Friday that several people had been subjected to untold incidents of pain and suffering during the protest suppression.
“The operation had a well-organised command structure with sector commanders and was executed according to a consistent pattern,” he said.
Kenyan police are often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods. They have also been accused in the past of running hit squads targeting those investigating alleged rights abuses by police.
This month the new president, William Ruto, disbanded a feared 20-yearold police unit accused of extrajudicial killings and vowed an overhaul of the security sector.
The 2017 protests erupted after victory was declared for then president Uhuru Kenyatta, angering supporters of his rival, the veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The result was annulled by the supreme court after a challenge by Odinga but he boycotted the rerun, which was won by Kenyatta.
According to Missing Voices, a campaign group focused on extrajudicial killings in Kenya, there have been 1,264 deaths at the hands of police since it began collecting data in 2017.