Police dismiss Haki Africa report on killings and disappearances

Dennis Tarus

December 8, 2016 6:44 PM

Through a statement signed by the Police Spokesperson George Kinoti, the police said the allegations were based on unfounded distortions of the real facts.

The National Police Service through the Office of the Inspector General Joseph Boinett (above) has rejected a report by Haki Africa linking them to extra judicial killings.

The National Police Service through the Office of the Inspector General had rejected the report by Haki Africa linking them to extra judicial killings and forced disappearances of persons in the Coast region.

“We also reject claims of religious profiling as we only focus on criminals irrespective of their religious affiliation,” the statement read in part.

The report accused the police of killing or ‘forcibly disappearing’ at least 81 Muslims living along the country’s coastline.

The report entitled “What Do We Tell the Families?,” Haki Africa said that the figure could be much higher, but that some families refused to come forward due to fear of repercussions.

Death cases

Of the 81 cases recorded since 2012, 22 deaths were allegedly caused by excessive use of force by police, four occurred while the victims were in police custody, 31 were allegedly extra-judicial executions, and 24 were thought to be enforced disappearances.

According to the NGO’s executive director, Hussein Khalid, most of the victims were youths, although they also included people over the age of 50, such as sheikhs and imams.

“The common thread is that all victims are Muslims, and all fall into a category of being perceived by authorities to be actual or potential terror suspects - a label increasingly nebulous and ill-defined, given that every killing and disappearance has been carried out outside of any known legal framework,” said Khalid in the report.

Dennis Tarus