While the United Nations Security Council voted on Monday, October 2, a resolution for Kenya to lead an international force in Haiti, civil society organizations are concerned about the capacities of the Kenyan police to respect the rights of the man. Because the Kenyan police have been accused on numerous occasions of “ abuses and violations “. This while Haiti is already facing violence from criminal gangs.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi, Gaëlle Laleix
“ The history of abuses and violations by the Kenyan police is long », laments Martin Mavenjina, of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission. The first scandals emerged in 2008 following a contested presidential election, with reports which then demonstrate the active role of the police in the violence of the post-electoral crisis.
The State is therefore undertaking a drastic reform: 15 years later and despite 81 billion shillings (or 520 million euros) spent on this project, the results are zero. According to Transparency International, Kenyans pay the police an average of 16 bribes per month.
In its latest report, published in September, the NGO Acled points to excessive use of violence by the police forces. She notes the use of tear gas and live ammunition in the repression of opposition demonstrations over the past six months. The death toll stands at around fifty victims and around a hundred injured.
Even the safeguards put in place to allow control are ineffective: the Independent Police Monitoring Agency has only obtained 12 convictions in cases of police violence, after having filed nearly 20,000 complaints between 2012 and 2021.
These organizations are therefore asking the United Nations for a precise mandate to supervise the Kenyan police officers. The resolution voted on Monday stipulates only that the mission may use “ emergency measures » temporary and proportionate « on an exceptional basis “.
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