State-funded human rights body has recommended to Parliament to sanction Interior boss and Police chief over massive human abuses and killings during the Gen Z-led protests.
In a damning submission before MPs, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said there was blatant abuse and violation of human rights during the demonstrations.
KNCHR said all cases of deaths and torture it investigated had hallmarks of security enforcers.
“Parliament should summon the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of national Government and the Inspector General of Police and sanction them for the abuses and unlawful acts by the police during protests,” KNCHR vice chairperson Marion Mutugi said
She said this is the only way of ensuring institutional and individual accountability and address serious human rights violations suffered by victims and their families.
The commission was appearing before the National Administration and Security Committee of the National Assembly to appraise it on the cases of kidnappings and abductions witnessed in the past four months.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and then IG Japhet Koome were in charge of the dockets during the month-long protests.
The commission’s report paints a picture of a police service that breached all the rules on the book and meted untold sufferings on Kenyans who were protesting the proposed Finance Bill, 2024.
Mutugi said the commission recorded 60 fatalities since the demonstrations broke out on June 18.
The fatalities included one female and 59 males.
“Postmortem reports indicate most of the people who were shot using live bullets during the protests while others succumbed to injuries caused by blunt trauma,” Mutugi said.
During the four months, KNCHR data shows 1,376 cases of arrests were documented across the 47 counties.
She said the number could be higher given that the agency was limited in terms of capacity to investigate some of the cases.
“Most of the arrests occurred in Nairobi, Nakuru, Migori, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Eldoret,” Mutugi said.
“Majority of the detainees were not booked cells registers and would be released late in the night in batches, which made it difficult for the commission to record their names and other details.”
KNCHR has so far received 71 cases of abductions and forced disappearances.
“The commission documented 601 injuries across the country which was ranging from deep fractures, bullet wounds, soft tissue injuries and inhalation of teargas,” it said.
“The police teargassed and attacked medical centres set at Jamia Mosque and Holy Family Basilica that were set up to assist the injured.”
“In Mombasa the police were accused of indiscriminately teargassing maternity wing of Mtwapa Hospital on July2, causing immense anguish,” the report said.
During the period, 25 police officers were injured after confrontation with protestors.
The human rights body decried the intentional concealment of the identity of police officers in the operations.
This, it said, derailed their mandate to bring the rogue ones to book.
“The commission noted with great concern that most officers controlling the protests concealed their identities by covering their heads with hoods and balaclavas, making it impossible for the commission and other oversight bodies to identify them,” Mutugi said.
“Equally, a good number of the vehicles used by the security agencies did not have registration numbers or had the registration plates concealed, the most notorious were Subaru salon vehicles usually associated with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.”
The commission now wants the IG to ensure all officers deployed during protests wear visible identification badges with their names and service numbers.
Earlier, Ipoa told the committee to consider amending the National Police Service Act.
