Lobby group sounds alarm over increased extrajudicial killings, abductions

Lobby group sounds alarm over increased extrajudicial killings, abductions

Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy organization, has condemned the rise of extrajudicial killings, abductions, and forced disappearances by Kenyan law enforcement.

The lobby group called on President Uhuru Kenyatta, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi, and Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai to publicly condemn the killings in a statement released on Sunday.

The statement comes amid allegations that a Mathare-based police officer only identified as Baraza- who is said to work in Mathare and Pangani- abducted and later executed a Mathare youth.

“We are alarmed and utterly dismayed by the illegal arrest, detention, and killing of Collins, a youth from Mathare in Nairobi County on 29th April 2021,” the lobby group said on Sunday “This is the latest killing of a Mathare youth allegedly by a most rogue police officer known as Baraza, who operates in Mathare and Pangani areas within Nairobi County”

Another human rights organization-MathareSJustice- based in Mathare documented the detention and kidnapping of the aforementioned teen, claiming that he was picked up by an officer named Njoro.

According to Amnesty International, the teen was apprehended on April 29 around 3 p.m. after witnessing the murder of another teen, Dominic Kalema, in his neighborhood.

“On Thursday 29th April 2021 MathareSJustice identified a Toyota Probox Registration Number KCW 491N which is usually used by Baraza and his squad to detain and harm Mathare youth illegally,” Amynesty International said on Sunday.

The late Collins was seen in a car parked in Pangani at about 5.41 p.m. on the same day, according to a Mathare-based lobby group.

Two more young men, Kelvin Irungu and a friend, were arrested and detained by the same police crew shortly before 10 p.m.

At the time, the lobby group alleged that Collins had been killed. His body would be found a day later at the City Mortuary.

The whereabouts of Irungu and his companion are unknown, according to Amnesty International, which claims that the police officer has been the subject of many complaints.

“We have received a number of complaints against the same officer and others such as Ahmed Rashid of Pangani,” the lobby group said.

According to Amnesty International, the fact that the police service and the IPOA have yet to launch an investigation into the matter is concerning.

“We are shocked and perturbed that the duty bearers in Interior Ministry, National Police Service and the IPOA have not taken steps to bring these officers to justice,” the lobby group said “We suspect that Baraza, Ahmed Rashid, Njoro and the other are serial killers in uniform”

Another lobby group, Missing Voices, claims that police officers killed at least 157 Kenyans in 2020 alone, with ten more going missing while in detention.

Amnesty International now wants the three police officers implicated in the controversy investigated and charged as retribution.

The lobbying group has also demanded that the National Assembly’s Security Committee submit a report outlining the steps being taken to address the troubling increase in extrajudicial killings.

The group also want the IPOA to urgently begin investigations of Irungu who is still missing.

Meanwhile, an investigation is underway into the disappearance of four men who went missing nearly two weeks ago after meeting for lunch in Kitengela.

On Friday, IG Mutyambai announced that a special DCI team was investigating the matter and would report back within a month.

The bodies of two of the missing men have already been discovered in the counties of Kiambu and Murang’a.

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