Police Brutality During Curfew Leaves Several Dead, Others with Life-Threatening Injuries
By Human Rights Watch Press
Published April 24, 2020
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.
Police have shot and beat people at markets or returning home from work even before the daily start of the curfew, broken into homes and shops, extorted
money from residents and looted food in locations across the country.
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“It is shocking that people are losing their lives and livelihoods while supposedly being protected from infection,” said Otsieno Namwaya, senior Africa
researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Police brutality isn’t just unlawful; it is also counterproductive in fighting the spread of the virus.”
Kenya has a long history of police use of excessive force during law enforcement operations, either in informal settlements or in response to demonstrations,
often resulting in unnecessary death.
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Although many killings by the police have been well documented by both state institutions and rights organizations, the security officers have rarely been
held to account, including by the police oversight authority. Those responsible for investigations appear to focus only on one or two cases that have
elicited public outrage and ignore the rest.
