Riot police respond to a protest in Nairobi, Kenya. Image: Tabitha Otwori/SOPA via Zuma Press/PA Images
This article is part of Right to Protest, a partnership project with human rights organisations CELS and INCLO, with support from the ACLU, examining the power of protest and its fundamental role in democratic society.
The Kenyan police force has a history of repressive response to peaceful protests, with interventions by police characterised by death, indiscriminate use of force, serious injury, abuse of firearms, unlawful arrests and detention under the pretext of maintaining law and order. These repressive responses came under sharp focus following the violence that ensued after the announcement of the presidential election results in 2007; a commission of inquiry established to investigate the violence found that police management of the demonstrations was ‘inconsistent in its basic legal provisions, jeopardised the lives of citizens and was in many cases characterised by grossly unjustified use of deadly force.’ (A total of 405 people died of gunshot wounds, while 557 suffered gunshot injuries.)
