Kenya: End Police Reprisals in Northern Region
Police Abuse Villagers After Attacks on Security Forces
October 25, 2012
Kenyan police officers are apparently responding to attacks on their forces
with abuses against entire villages. Kenyan police need to investigate
attacks on their forces carefully, and arrest and prosecute the people
responsible instead of attacking everyone in sight.
Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director
(Nairobi) The Kenyan government should ensure a speedy and transparent
investigation of alleged police attacks on villagers in Kenya's North
Eastern province.
Numerous witnesses have told Human Rights Watch that the police beat and
mistreated villagers following attacks by suspected al-Shabaab supporters on
Kenyan security officers. Officials implicated in abusing villagers should
be brought to justice.
"Kenyan police officers are apparently responding to attacks on their forces
with abuses against entire villages," said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa
director at Human Rights Watch. "Kenyan police need to investigate attacks
on their forces carefully, and arrest and prosecute the people responsible
instead of attacking everyone in sight."
Human Rights Watch research in North Eastern province shows that on at least
three occasions in September and October 2012, security forces in Garissa
and Mandera responded to attacks on their forces with abusive operations
against residents of nearby towns and villages.
Four witnesses interviewed separately described an incident on the night of
October 19 in which police officers beat and assaulted at least 40 people in
the Garissa town center following an armed attack on officers patrolling
near an administration police station on Miraa road near the Garissa
Provincial Library.
A government official described the incident as an attack on the police by
common criminals, but witnesses told Human Rights Watch that after they
heard a loud explosion in the town of Garissa at around 7:30 p.m., police
carried out a night-long operation, shooting and beating residents, and
destroying property.
One witness told Human Rights Watch that he saw at least four people
admitted to the Garissa Provincial Hospital with severe injuries on their
backs, chests, and heads. A 25-year-old man was treated for multiple gunshot
wounds, while a doctor in Garissa had severe injuries from a police beating,
the witnesses said.
"Many people were still on the streets when it happened," a 30-year-old man
who lives in the town told Human Rights Watch. "Police then started kicking
and beating people with gun butts and wooden sticks. On a few occasions they
fired live ammunitions at individuals,"
In an October 1 incident, 12 witnesses told Human Rights Watch that a
combined force of regular police, administration police, and the riot police
(General Service Unit) carried out a two-hour-long operation in the village
of Bulla Iftin on the outskirts of Garissa in response to a 9:30 p.m.
grenade attack on the Iftin police post. The witnesses told Human Rights
Watch that within 20 minutes of the grenade attack a large contingent of
police officers arrived in the village, kicking doors open, beating women
and children, and threatening villagers. "We shall make sure we have killed
all of you terrorists before you kill us," one witness said he heard an
officer say.
Dozens of villagers suffered serious injuries and most of the residents
Human Rights Watch interviewed said that the police stole their money and
possessions, or destroyed their homes. All 12 witnesses separately told
Human Rights Watch they were beaten severely, and three people said they had
been beaten unconscious and have since been unable to work. A 37-year-old
father of three said he had not reported to work three weeks after the
beatings as he was still nursing wounds on his back and a swollen eye. Many
victims of the October 1 beatings say they have not been able to afford
medical care.
Some of the victims of the beatings said they could identify some of the
attackers and had lodged formal complaints with the police. "We know that it
is going to be difficult since we saw some of the officers who assaulted us
when we went to record statements at the police station," one beating victim
told Human Rights Watch. "The most important thing is that we have made a
formal complaint and have all the relevant medical and legal documents that
show the extent of the injuries."
Despite pledges from senior police officers to investigate the incidents,
Human Rights Watch has not been able to get any information indicating
investigations have begun. Kenyan authorities should immediately open
investigations and prosecute officers responsible for abuses.
"Senior police officials should immediately follow up on the many complaints
of police abuse in Bulla Iftin," Lefkow said. "The victims have shown
courage in coming forward and lodging complaints. Now we need to see
accountability for these crimes."
In yet another incident, on September 15 in Mandera district, witnesses told
Human Rights Watch that a group of police officers from various police units
led by a well-known officer attached to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit beat
residents of the village of Bulla Power, near the town of Mandera. The
beatings immediately followed the 10 a.m. explosion of a remote-controlled
improvised explosive device (IED) targeting a vehicle used by police
officers. Two officers in the back of a pickup truck had minor injuries.
After the explosion the four police officers who were in the vehicle called
for reinforcements and then descended on the nearby village beating everyone
in sight, seven witnesses told Human Rights Watch.
A mother in her 30s who was preparing food for her one-year-old child said
police kicked open the door of her home, violently kicked the food off the
fire, and started beating her with wooden sticks. In another incident, a
woman who was six months pregnant told Human Rights Watch that police, who
were operating in groups of five, kicked open the door of her house and then
attacked her. One officer kicked her to the ground and kicked and whipped
her until she lost consciousness, she said. She told Human Rights Watch that
she has since felt sharp pain in her hip and abdomen, but is not able to
afford a medical checkup.
The seven victims Human Rights Watch interviewed were all able to identify
at least one or two of the officers who attacked them. Wounded villagers
went to Mandera police station to make a formal complaint and recognized
some of the officers as among those who had beaten them. The officers, who
included those identified by victims, refused to allow them into the
station, the villagers told Human Rights Watch, accusing the villagers of
responsibility for the attacks on police. The villagers said that they were
turned away again the next day and police officers threatened them with
"severe consequences" if they persisted.
After local political leaders and human rights organizations intervened on
September 18, three days after the incident, the district commissioner
directed the police to accept statements. One woman told Human Rights Watch
that she had said in her statement of complaint that the police had robbed
her of 30,000 Kenyan shillings (US$362) during the operation while another
woman said she was robbed of 5,000 Kenyan shillings (US$61).
Although the commissioner promised to investigate the complaints and arrest
the culprits, resident told Human Rights Watch, they are not aware of any
follow-up action. Instead, residents told Human Rights Watch, police
increased the harassment. A civic leader in Mandera told Human Rights Watch
that the police continue to rob local residents, and the authorities have
not been willing to take action, heightening tensions.
Both Garissa and Mandera districts in North Eastern province have been the
site of increasing grenade and gun attacks targeting both the Kenyan
security forces and civilians since October 2011, when Kenyan military
entered Somalia in pursuit of the militant Somali armed group, al-Shabaab.
The Kenyan government has publicly attributed the attacks to al-Shabaab,
which declared last year that it had joined the al Qaeda network.
Kenyan security forces have repeatedly accused residents in North Eastern
province of either harboring members of al-Shabaab or participating in the
attacks, and have repeatedly carried out abusive operations against local
residents. In late January the Defense Ministry established an inquiry into
abuses by the Kenyan military, but the police force has failed to respond
appropriately to the serious, mounting allegations of crimes by police.
"The government has repeatedly promised to investigate the pattern of abuses
in northern Kenya," Lefkow said. "So far there is no sign of serious action,
and the security forces continue to operate outside the law."
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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