Amnesty International Kenya’s executive director Irungu Houghton says Kenyan police unlawfully used lethal and non-lethal force during protests against IMF-backed tax proposals in July and August.
The rights group’s conclusions relate primarily to events on 25th June, when un-uniformed Kenyan officers without official identification fired live rounds at protesters at the country’s parliament complex in the capital, Nairobi.
Amnesty says it reconstructed the day’s events with five partners and interviewed 23 witnesses. It also analysed dozens of videos and photographs. More than 50 people were killed in months-long protests led by largely young demonstrators over a controversial finance bill. Pressure from these protests eventually succeeded in getting the legislation shelved.
Amnesty’s report said images showed groups of men in civilian clothes carrying weapons and working alongside the police. Amnesty also said Kenyan police that day unlawfully fired tear gas and beat and arbitrarily detained peaceful demonstrators. In response, some protesters threw back tear gas canisters at officers, hurled stones, broke windows and took flags.