IPOA probes police for fatal shootings

By JOE KIARIE

Kenya: More than 100 police officers are under investigation for shootings that have maimed or killed innocent, unarmed civilians, The Standard on Saturday can report.

 The probe comes at a time when the National Police Service has been put under scrutiny for controversial shoot-to-kill orders amid claims that efforts to reform the much-maligned service have been bogged down by resistance from within.

 This week, families whose relatives have been maimed or killed by police told of their pain and anger because authorities were yet to punish the errant officers.

 Those who spoke to The Standard on Saturday include a female university student shot as she fled from police fire, two men with bullets still stuck in their bodies, and the family of an eight-year-old girl believed to have been killed by a stray bullet.

In some of the cases, the victims, including the little girl, died after they were shot in unclear circumstances. The cases range from the so-called stray bullets, deliberate shootings during heated disagreements and suspected summary executions.

As this unfolded, families of five people whose bodies were discovered on the edge of a forest in Nyeri County on Thursday claimed the five – four men and a woman - had been arrested by police a day earlier. All from Ruring’u area just outside Nyeri town, their families claimed the young men were executed by Administration Police officers. They had bullet wounds. 

 The four men were identified as Yusuf Mwangi Mohammed alias Pique, 18, Mohammed Kaburu, 19, Kelvin Kihuri, aged about 25, and the fourth only identified as King’ori. Their bodies were found by a herder in Tagwa Forest, part of Mt Kenya Forest, along the Chaka-Sagana State Lodge road.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), which is leading the charge to investigate and punish bungling officers, said it had the resolve to end extra-judicial killings and careless use of firearms.

The independent body said it had received more than 1,000 complaints against police officers and was sifting through evidence to catch the culprits. The complaints range from assaults by police, some leading to serious injuries, inordinately delayed investigations, refusal to investigate or shoddy investigations, death in custody, allegations of extra-judicial or arbitrary executions, intimidation and harassment, police colluding with criminal groups, illegal arrests, mostly on trumped-up charges, cover-up of criminal actions, and malicious prosecution, among others

IPOA chairman Macharia Njeru said the authority would take action against trigger-happy police officers and those who had turned into criminals.

“IPOA has been struggling in terms of capacity. But it is now fully operational with a whole team of investigators and other personnel, and heads will soon start rolling,” assures Njeru.

 “We are giving these cases top priority because this is poor policing. Innocent lives should not be lost merely because the police are engaging thugs in a shootout,” he said.

Njeru added: “This is inexcusable. It is recklessness that should not be allowed.”

He said IPOA would push for compensation of victims through the National Police Service Commission.

The Independent Medical Legal Unit (IMLU), a human rights body that monitors human rights abuses, is also reviewing cases of police shootings. Victims and their families have recorded statements with the organisation’s lawyers with a view to file cases in court. Hadley Muchela, the programmes officer at the organisation, expressed dismay that even though the law allows police to use force, many officers were exceeding this mandate with impunity.

He said there have been concerted efforts by the police to tamper with evidence, including substitution of bullets, when they have been involved in wrongful use of firearms so as to defeat the course of justice.

“When, for instance, it is the officer in charge of a station involved in a shooting, or he has given orders to junior officers to wrongly use firearms, you cannot expect him to lead any professional investigations. The perpetrators cannot investigate themselves,” states Muchela.

Among those registered with IMLU is the family of Cynthia Waithera, the eight-year-old girl shot on September 26 last year in Nairobi.

According to witness accounts, a group of police officers from Kariobangi Police Station had raided a house in Korogocho area and arrested a suspected thug, who residents claim was shot dead while handcuffed after surrendering.

Martin Ndung’u, an eyewitness, recalled how the police started firing in the air when irate members of the public confronted them protesting the manner in which the man had been executed. A bullet apparently hit Cynthia in the head during the commotion. She was a Class Two pupil at Caretakers Orphans Education Centre.

Cynthia’s mother, Consolata Wanjiku, has not recorded a statement with the police “I did not see exactly what happened, yet all the witnesses fear to record statements when they have no protection. They fear the police might come for them if they do so,” she said.

From June to December last year, IPOA received 139 reports from the police themselves - as required under IPOA regulations – which comprised 66 cases in which civilians had been killed, and 17 involving serious injuries. Of the total cases, 83 were reported in Nairobi County. In the first half of 2013 (January to June), IPOA received 663 complaints from the public against the police, and from the police themselves concerning their jobs and their welfare. From a gender perspective, 70 per cent of these cases emanated from men while 12.2 per cent were from women.

Institutions such as the Commission for the Administration of Justice, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and civil society organisations, lodged about 17 per cent of the complaints, mostly acting on behalf of the victims of violations.

Of the 663 complaints, two-thirds were lodged by the public and ranged from assault by police, intimidation and harassment, to delayed investigations, illegal arrests and malicious prosecution.

While Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo admits that police bullets at times hit innocent civilians, he insists that such incidents are not premeditated.

“Let us appreciate the fact that some of these officers are working for the nation and could be doing some very good work but the bullet hits the wrong target accidentally,” he says.  He defends the Police Service against claims of cover-us, saying, like in any other case involving police misconduct, an inquiry file is usually opened and the responsible officer taken to court if it is proved he was negligent.

He did not say how many such cases had been handled.

“We are not protecting any officer who kills or seriously injures someone when this could have been avoided,” he states.

“When this happens, it is subject to an inquiry to establish if it was the police or the criminal who shot the innocent civilian. It must be proved beyond reasonable doubt, and not based on mere allegations”.

Kimaiyo said it is the right of members of the public to record a statement with the police. “When this does not happen, we have an internal audit unit and IPOA which look into the issue and recommended for action,” he said.