Watchdog Slams Police Brutality In Kenya During COVID-19 Curfew Leading To Six Deaths

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published April 22, 2020 | 03:00 PM

A prominent international human rights watchdog slammed on Wednesday police brutality in Kenya during the first 10 days of a curfew, imposed on March 27 in a bid to curb the coronavirus, which resulted in the deaths of at least six people

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) A prominent international human rights watchdog slammed on Wednesday police brutality in Kenya during the first 10 days of a curfew, imposed on March 27 in a bid to curb the coronavirus, which resulted in the deaths of at least six people.

The severe abuses were revealed by Human Rights Watch (HRW) after it conducted phone interviews with 26 witnesses, relatives and victims of violence committed during the curfew in the countries of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale, Busia, Kakamega, Mandera and Homa Bay from March 29 and April 14.

"At least six people died from police violence during the first 10 days of Kenya's dusk-to-dawn curfew, imposed on March 27, 2020 to contain the spread of Covid-19," HRW said in a press release, adding that some others had received life-threatening injuries.

According to HRW, police officers shot and beat citizens who were at markets or returning home from work without apparent justification and even before the start of the curfew.

In addition, the officers broke into homes and shops, squeezed money or looted food all over the country. The watchdog slammed the police actions as unlawful and counterproductive in terms of fighting the spread of COVID-19.

Though the authorities said that probes into the abuses and killings were launched, no police officer was prosecuted or charged with the killings. Within the context, HRW urged the Kenyan authorities to investigate instances in which police shot, beat or abused people, and to hold those responsible to account.

Such abuses are not new to Kenya, which has a long history of police use of excessive force in informal settlements or in response to demonstrations, including peaceful ones, often leading to unnecessary deaths. Among the latest documented by HRW in February were eight cases of police killings, six of them during peaceful protests.