Call for inquiry on Kenyan police use of live rounds

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - A leading human rights group on Tuesday called for an investigation into the use of live ammunition by Kenyan police at recent political demonstrations.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has held regular protests across the country in recent weeks as it calls for the overhaul of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which is accuses of bias towards the government.

Five people were killed and at least 60 injured during demonstrations in western Kenya’s Nyanza region on May 23 and June 6, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report.

“Police officers shot live ammunition at and near those participating in the largely peaceful protests on both days,” the group said.

“Human Rights Watch found that uninvolved bystanders, students in school or on their way home and people at work or in their homes were seriously injured or killed in situations where lethal force was unnecessary.”

HRW called on the government to initiate “credible investigations into the actions of police alleged to have ordered or carried out human rights abuses”.

Led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, CORD wants members of the electoral commission, some of which have been implicated in bribery and corruption, to resign ahead of next year’s presidential election.

This has led to rallies across the country in the last five weeks.

In its report, HRW cites a witness who said police shot a man coming out of a bank and stole his money. The group said it had interviewed 35 witnesses in Kisumu, Siaya, Migori and Homabay counties, where the deaths were recorded, including 10 people who were shot.

“People were killed in their homes and schools, people were killed in the streets during largely peaceful protests and the authorities need to find out why,” HRW researcher Otsieno Namwaya said.

“Given the failure to investigate similar past incidents and with elections expected in 2017, it’s crucial for the government to make its findings public and to see that justice is done.”

Dorothy Anyango, 37, told HRW she was shot as she stepped out of her home. “Something hit me on the shoulder from behind,” she said. “I fell down and heard people say I had been shot.”

Witnesses told HRW that the protests in Nyanza were largely peaceful until police opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas.

The report said the use of lethal force at political protests “remains a serious problem in Kenya”.

A commission of inquiry into violence after the 2007 presidential elections found police used live ammunition unnecessarily in Nyanza, killing 115 people. HRW said it found at least five people had been shot dead by police in 2013 demonstrations against the court ruling upholding President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election victory.

Neither set of killings has been adequately investigated or prosecuted, the group said.

Telephone calls by Anadolu Agency to the State House and Interior Ministry to request a comment on the HRW allegations went unanswered Tuesday.