Group wants police force probed over PEV deaths

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has been urged to begin a fresh probe into the 2007/2008 post-election violence with investigating police officers who were accused of killing people.

The International Centre for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) says that more than 400 Kenyans were shot dead by police during the violence and that no police officer has been prosecuted for shooting dead people or failing to prevent chaos.

On Monday, DCI boss George Kinoti announced that investigators have received and recorded statements from victims of the election violence in which more than 1,300 people died, mostly in police shootings. 

The Waki Commission, which was established to look into the violence and come up with recommendations, revealed that a total of 962 people were shot and 405 of them died.

On Wednesday, the Executive Director of ICPC Ndung'u Wainaina said that the police service has been the biggest obstruction in the prosecution of the case. Mr Wainana further said that neither the DCI nor any other police agency has ever applied to be enjoined or assist in the prosecution of the cases.

“A group of civil society organisations and victims of police shootings decided to file a class action case at the High Court in Kisumu against four government officials demanding accountability for the unlawful killings and maiming, seeking a judgment ordering the government to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators, and to provide reparations for the survivors and families of the deceased,” Mr Wainaina said.

He also said that a case that was filed on February 20, 2013, involving eight sexual and gender-based violence survivors during the violence together with four organisations, has been going on for seven years and that there has been little or no police participation.

The country, he said, has undergone three key moments in attempts to address crimes arising from the PEV, including the attempt to establish a special tribunal by the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan where he handed over an envelope containing a list of suspects and evidence from the Waki Commission to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the use of other domestic mechanisms.

“The Judicial Service Commission renewed attempts at establishing domestic mechanisms for dealing with the PEV crimes and appointed a committee to look into the possibility of operationalising the International Crimes Act through the formation of an International Crimes Division within the High Court but, despite the goodwill, the proposal to establish an international crimes division, has not been implemented due to lack of political will,” Mr Wainaina said.

Mr Wainaina accused Mr Kinoti of lacking honesty and transparency, terming his statements an “act of smoke and mirror”, adding that if he really wanted to prosecute PEV cases, he should start with Waki Commission, TJRC report and seeking fresh cooperation with ICC to obtain the evidence given to the court by Annan.

The Waki Commission’s evidence had revealed that Rift Valley was the epicentre of the violence and recorded 194 deaths from gunshots while Nyanza had 107. In total, Rift Valley had 744 deaths of the total deaths recorded during the PEV while Nyanza had 134.

Mr Kinoti’s bid to revive the cases has received criticism from several quarters, including politicians who said the DCI was opening old and healed wounds.

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday also criticised the DCI boss, asking him to tread carefully on the matter.