Twin Pandemics: Police Brutality Amidst Covid-19

Independent Medico-Legal Unit in Kenya revealed that there was widespread use of excessive, arbitrary, and unnecessary force by the police against the public in the enforcement of the measures meant to curb the spread of the Covid – 19 virus.

The research carried out during the period between March 16 – October 30 2020 shows that the majority group that bore the brand of violence are the poor and underprivileged who suffered severe injuries and death in the process.

“Whereas the necessity of the measures could not be denied, their enforcement raised more concerns than the pandemic itself. In particular, the country became inundated with reports of police brutality against civilians, especially the low-income earners.

Cases of deaths and injuries arising out of police excesses regularly featured in various media prompting the President to unprecedentedly apologize to the nation. In effect, it was a twin – crisis for the country – first from the virus – as the police action became the ‘real pandemic.’ The protectors had become the tormentors!”, reads a part of the report.

The Independent Medico-Legal Unit received 25 cases of extrajudicial executions and 43 cases of torture and ill-treatment during the period under review. Some of the affected families lost their breadwinners while others were left with life-threatening injuries.

The report confirms that the widespread and recurring incidences of police brutality indeed pointed to a dysfunctional institutional system characterized by poor supervision and lack of accountability.

Moreover, the institutional structures and processes of the National Police Service failed to appreciate the nature of the crisis, socio-economic contexts of the Kenyan population, and the need for accountability in the enforcement of the measures.

“Whereas various Government agencies made efforts to ensure accountability of the police for the violations, such did not meet the prescribed accountability standards. The actions failed the test of responsiveness, transparency, and accountability. Opaque and inordinate delays in the investigations, prosecution and administrative processes coupled with lack of Government support and reparation to the victims of the violations undermined police accountability”, the report stated.

The report further notes that public institutions, except for the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, refused to acknowledge or use the internationally accepted phrase ‘extra-judicial execution’ even though it is well defined in international instruments of which Kenya is a signatory.

This potentially undermined the appreciation of the gravity of the violations and the attendant responses by the oversight agencies. In effect, the victims became mere statistics, and society was immune to serious human rights violations.

Additionally, the report gives accounts of the various state and non-state bodies that received complaints confirming abuse of power by the police in contravention of the law. For instance, KNCHR had by 27 April 2020 registered 117 complaints relating to the pandemic out of which 66 related to the use of excessive force by the NPS. The figure had risen to 220 complaints by 6 June 2020.

Similarly, IPOA reported receiving 93 (21 of them relating to death) complaints against police officers. Non-state human rights bodies including IMLU, Haki Africa, Kenya Human Rights Commission, and Article 19 Eastern Africa reported receiving complaints relating to police excesses and other human rights violations.

As observed by IMLU, it is evident that the techniques deployed to promote behavior change were critical in determining the effectiveness of the interventions. Force and fear failed to work. A report by the Anadolu Agency demonstrated that excessive use of power by the police was counterproductive. People wore masks out of fear of law enforcers.

Based on the findings and in appreciation of the gaps and challenges, the following key proposals have been recommended to improve police accountability in Kenya.

i) The Government should develop and implement a holistic approach that integrates human rights, public participation, and accountability in crises or emergencies.

ii) There is a need to strengthen transparency and accountability in the exercise of public power by policing and oversight bodies.

iii) The National Police Service should embrace robust supervision and internal monitoring of police conduct and hold supervisors accountable for violations committed by officers working under them, in appropriate cases.

iv) The National Police Service needs to adopt global best practices on policing the Covid-19 pandemic to guide its enforcement role. Such could take the form of guidelines that embed human rights principles, accountability, and community policing.

v) The Government, through the Attorney General, should facilitate victims to access reparations through actual legal representation or non-judicial avenues.

vi) The National Police Service needs to initiate periodic engagements with key stakeholders – state and non-state – to explore areas of collaboration, best practices, gaps, challenges, and solutions.

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