Lawyers censure police over brutality and arrests

The Law Society of Kenya has called out the police over the manner in which it has handled ongoing mass protests. LSK President Eric Theuri yesterday said the agenda of the protest is centred on electoral malpractices and social and economical grievances saying that does not constitute war propaganda, incitement to violence, hate speech or advocacy of hatred.

According to the lawyer’s body, recurrent violations of the right to peaceful assembly have been spotlighted including excessive use of force by police on demonstrators.

“There has been a failure to protect against violence targeting journalists, unlawful killings, failure to use de-escalation tactics, arbitrary arrests and lack of accountability for such violations,” said Theuri during a press conference.

He urged the Independent Policing Oversight Authority to investigate the deaths and injuries that have occurred from the use of force by the police and to determine whether there were any violations of the police standing orders. LSK also wants IPOA to investigate the use of force and live ammunition by the police.

“NPS should provide security to members of the public during the protests and use the principle of proportionality,” he said.