This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
Unlawful Police Killings in Nairobi's Informal Settlements ¶
Human Rights Watch has documented at least 21 unlawful killings by police in Nairobi's Dandora and Mathare neighborhoods since August 2018.
On July 10, 2019, Hillary Nzioka Mutyambai, Inspector General of Police, received a letter from Human Rights Watch requesting a meeting to discuss the findings of their research on the killings.
Between April and May 2019, Human Rights Watch researched the reported killings by police in Dandora and Mathare, particularly the killings of April 2019, October 2018, and August 2018. They interviewed 35 people, including witnesses, family members of victims, medical and social workers, and activists.
Human Rights Watch found that police have shot dead, apparently unlawfully, at least 21 men and boys in Nairobi's Dandora and Mathare neighborhoods since August 2018. The organization believes that, based on the cases they know about and those reported in the media, police have unlawfully killed many more in the past year.
Under Kenyan and international law, the police should only intentionally use lethal force when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life. However, in many of the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, police have used lethal force without apparent justification.
One of the most egregious incidents occurred on April 17, 2019, when police shot six men in the Mlango Kubwa area, including a 17-year-old boy. The men were not armed, did not resist arrest, and had either surrendered or were being held by the officers at the time of the killing.
Human Rights Watch also found that police have routinely failed to cooperate with investigative agencies. In each of the 21 killings in Dandora and Mathare, police failed to prepare preliminary reports about the killings for sharing with the oversight agency and the Internal Affairs Unit. Such reports are required under the law.
Human Rights Watch has requested a meeting with the Inspector General of Police to discuss the findings and the lack of investigation into these incidents. They have raised several issues, including the National Police Service's response to the killings, the apparent shoot-to-kill policy in Nairobi's informal settlements, and the lack of cooperation with investigative agencies.
