The Police Working Reforms Group (PRWG-K) reports that at least 23 people have died during the protests against the Finance Bill, and 34 individuals have been subjected to enforced disappearances in Kenya.
The group states that since the demonstrations began in mid-May, 271 people have sustained injuries, with the situation intensifying in the last week of June.
In a letter to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) dated June 29, the organization alleged that the gross human rights violations observed in recent weeks were actions perpetrated by the National Police Service (NPS).
“We thus implore IPOA to investigate these instances expeditiously and in great detail. Individuals in charge of approving and executing the use of fatal force, making arbitrary arrests, kidnappings, and forced disappearances must be held accountable and prosecuted,” PRWG said.
The Police Working Reforms Group also urges the IPOA to investigate and monitor police conduct going forward to prevent further incidents of abductions and police brutality.
“IPOA must carry out its mission to impartially investigate police behavior and guarantee that such flagrant breaches of human rights never happen again,” it said.
“A just and democratic society must uphold the rights to nonviolent assembly, protection from arbitrary arrest, and the avoidance of forced disappearances.”
This comes in the wake of complaints from citizens and human rights organizations regarding incidents of police brutality during the recently concluded nationwide protests.