Article by PBI-Canada

On March 23, PBI-Kenya posted: “Missing Voices will be launching the 2020 Annual report on police killings tomorrow at Mama Ngina Drive in Mombasa. Stay tuned for this critical audit of policing in Kenya as we mark International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.”

This morning, PBI-Kenya posted this video of the release of that report.

The Missing Voices report documents: “The Kenya police killed 157 people in 2020 compared to 144 people in 2019. Police killed 24 people while enforcing the COVID-19 restriction imposed by the government.”

The report further notes: “The Kenyan government does not keep a formal record of police killings and enforced disappearances. Our research, research from other human rights organizations and the media indicate that enforced disappearance and police killings are a systemic problem in Kenya.”

Among the recommendations listed in the report: “Enact a law on enforced disappearances or amend the existing legislation to criminalize enforced disappearances. The law should include recourse and reparations for victims and their families.”

Peace Brigades International is a partner organization to Missing Voices.

In September 2020, PBI highlighted in this presentation to the UN Human Rights Council that “police violence has continued to be a daily experience in Kenya.”

On October 30, 2020, PBI-USA co-organized the Police violence has no borders webinar in which Faith Kasina of the Kayole Community Justice Centre spoke on this issue.

PBI-USA continues to follow this closely with great concern.

The Missing Voices 2020 report can be read in full here.

A screenshot from the PBI-Kenya/PBI-UK documentary Ghetto Justice.