The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has released itsa follow-up report on the so-called Mungiki killings, the large scale extra-judicial killings and disappearances that have taken place, predominantly in and around nairobi, but also elsewhere in the country, as the report documents. The report leaves no doubt that the several hundred killings were ordered, directed or coordinated by the top leadership of the Kenyan police, acting jointly with a common purpose. Read KNCHR´s key findings below. (20-SEP-08)
Based on the KNCHR report itself, this article has been edited and prepared for publication here by HRHF / Niels Jacob Harbitz.
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
Some of the key findings drawn from the KNCHR´s investigations and the whistle blower´s account are:
a) That the evidence gathered by the KNCHR establishes patterns of conduct by the Kenya Police that may constitute crimes against humanity.
b) That extra-judicial executions and other brutal acts of extreme cruelty have been perpetrated by the Police against so-called Mungiki adherents and that these acts may have been committed pursuant to official policy sanctioned by the political leadership, the Police Commissioner and top police commanders.
c) That whereas initially the police mainly used firearms to execute the suspects, they subsequently changed their modus operandi and have since been using such methods as strangulation, drowning, mutilation and bludgeoning. The change of strategy was to make members of the public believe that rival Mungiki gangs are responsible for the killings. As such, the cause of death for majority of the latest victims has been blunt trauma, strangulation, drowning or mutilation using sharp objects as illustrated by post-mortem reports attached hereinafter (Refer to Annex 3). Several witnesses told the KNCHR that the killer squads carry machetes, iron bars, ropes and other crude weapons in their vehicles.
d) That the police spokesperson Mr. Eric Kiraithe has severally attributed the wave of killings to rival Mungiki gangs. He claims that there is a schism within the Mungiki movement pitting Maina Njenga and Ndura Waruinge. Could this be a ploy to divert public attention and conceal the grotesque illegal conduct of the police?
e) That the disappearances and extra-judicial killings heightened following public statements made by top government officials suggesting an official policy to ruthlessly deal with suspected Mungiki
members and other criminals. During Madaraka day celebrations on 1/6/07, President Mwai Kibaki warned that Mungiki sect members should expect no mercy. Two days later, on 3/6/07, about three
hundred suspected Mungiki members were arrested and at least twenty killed when they were reportedly caught administering oaths to recruits. After this incident, Michuki publicly remarked that ´Tutawanyorosha na tutawamaliza. Hata wenye wameshikwa kwa kuhusiana na mauaji ya hivi majuzi, siwezi nikakwambia wako wapi leo. Nyinyi tu mtakuwa mkisikia mazishi ya fulani ni ya kesho. (We will pulverize and finish them off. Even those arrested over the recent killings, I cannot tell you where they are today. What you will certainly hear is that so and so��s burial is tomorrow).
f) That on 20/9/07, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Raphael Tuju, during the ´Loius Otieno on the Road´ program on Citizen TV, said that ´For the past few months, up to 400 people were killed because they were Mungiki´. The KNCHR has the TV clip of Minister Tuju making the admission, which was transmitted live.
g) That these acts were ordered, directed or coordinated by the top leadership of the Kenya Police acting jointly with a common purpose.
h) That by the time of compiling this report, the KNCHR has compiled at least three hundred names of persons who have either been killed or disappeared. Additionally, there are at least two hundred other persons whose identity the KNCHR was unable to establish since they were merely booked in mortuaries as unknown. Many of these bodies were subsequently disposed by the respective mortuary authorities after they remained unclaimed by their relatives for long.
i) That the KNCHR continues to receive complaints from families of persons who have disappeared including allegations of people arrested by police and who have not been heard of since the date of
arrest. Even more worrying is the anecdotal evidence KNCHR continues to gather where persons arrested by police have later turned up dead in mortuaries.
j) That the Kenya Police appears responsible for the abduction and killing of Kimani Ruo who was arrested outside Nairobi Law Courts in June 2007 moments after he was acquitted by the court for charges of being a member of Mungiki. They are further culpable in the killing of the wife and driver to the jailed Mungiki leader, Maina Njenga and two key Mungiki leaders, Ndung��u Wagacha (Acting Chairman) and Naftali Irungu (National Treasurer).
k) That the police officers responsible for these executions were either rewarded by the Police Commissioner with cash hand outs, promotions and vehicles appropriated from executed Mungiki suspects.
l) That several police officers have also been executed so as not to expose the criminal activities of the specialized police units.
m) That the police may be involved in an extortion racket where they take ATM cards from suspects and force them to disclose their PIN numbers and then withdraw money from the suspects�� bank accounts after killing them.
n) That the specialized police squads responsible for executions reportedly use vehicles from Romeo Tours and Safaris company believed to be owned or associated to a senior police officer. The vehicles are reportedly fitted with fake registration plates apparently to conceal their identity.
