Death toll rises to at least 30, Human Rights Watch says

On Wednesday, the day after a day of anti-government mobilization punctuated by violence, the official human rights organization, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC), reported at least 22 victims.

The toll rises further, four days after Tuesday’s anti-government demonstrations in Kenya. At least 30 people were killed during this day of mobilization, according to a report published on Saturday June 29 by Human Rights Watch (HRW). While the authorities have not communicated any results of this deadly day, the NGO arrived at this count on the basis “testimonies, information accessible to the public, hospital and mortuary registers”.

A previous report from the official human rights protection body (KNHRC) reported Wednesday that 22 people were killed in the country. The Police Reform Working Group, a group of local NGOs including the Kenyan branch of Amnesty International, claimed for its part to have counted, on the evening of June 25, 23 deaths. “caused by police shooting”.

According to HRW, its investigators saw 26 bodies of protesters in different morgues in Nairobi, and further searches “show that police killed at least three people in Eldoret town, one person in Nakuru and one in Meru”, said the NGO in a press release. She also reports the testimony of a human rights activist claiming that 22 people were killed by “military” in Githurai, about twenty kilometers north of Nairobi.

“Firing directly into crowds without justification, including when protesters are trying to flee, is completely unacceptable under Kenyan and international law.”HRW associate director for Africa Otsieno Namwaya said in the statement. Like several other NGOs, it accuses the police of firing live ammunition, particularly on the crowd gathered in front of Parliament, and calls “Kenyan authorities to promptly but credibly and transparently investigate abuses committed by security forces.”

After two largely peaceful demonstrations on June 18 and 20, the third day of the “Occupy Parliament” movement, launched on social networks to oppose the 2024-25 budget proposal of the government led by the president William Ruto planning the introduction of new taxes turned into a bloodbath. This protest strongly mobilized Kenyan youth, before drawing Kenyans of all ages into its wake. The anti-tax slogan has become anti-government.

On Wednesday, President Ruto announced the withdrawal of the proposed budget passed by Parliament.