Victims of police brutality still seeking elusive justice

 "Instead of protecting them, the government brutalized them and left them to die or fend for themselves. Many sought justice in vain..."

By  KHALWALE James

Anti-riot police struggle with civilians to restore order during the 2007 post-poll mayhem in Eldoret town. Civil groups now claim that many injustices by the police during the violence have been ignored by the government and judicial system. They allege that the police had an upper hand in killing innocent people. Below, Onlookers view the bodies of ten people who were roasted when a church they had taken for raven was set ablaze in Kiambaa. Picture by Khalwale James.

For many Kenyans, the 2007 post-election violence was the worst kind of madness that they had ever experienced. Many watched the madness on television and bolted their steel doors. In the end, somehow the country returned to sanity.

 
It was assumed that all had been forgiven. Even the Prime Minister was quoted as saying, "We have been to hell and back." However, there is one group of forgotten Kenyans who are still suffering from the effects of the violence.

Most attention focused on violence perpetuated by the various militias and the IDP crisis while victims of state violence were ignored.
Victims of police brutality are still suffering, many are still in pain, some with bullets lodged in their bodies.

Instead of protecting them, the government brutalised them and left them to die or fend for themselves. Many sought justice in vain. This week, some of the victims of state violence gathered in Kisumu, courtesy of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict and the Citizens Against Violence Initiative.

Police bullets
They recollected the horrors of the post-election violence and how their lives were shattered by police bullets. Mr Gregory Ngoche, a 53-year-old volunteer social worker, remembers that he sitting in his Kisumu home, basking in the early morning sunshine when the tranquillity of the new day was broken by screams of protesters. Bullets were flying everywhere.

"Live bullets were flying everywhere, some hitting trees. One of them hit me in the lower abdomen, " he narrates. He says his family is still fearful of living in their neighbourhood because of the police activity.

Ms Alice Atieno, a security officer, recalls arriving home in Manyatta Estate after the day's work. Her six-year-old son was playing outside when she saw youths breaking into a nearby shop.

Disability
On hearing gun fire, she quickly grabbed her son and headed for a neighbour's house. But as they neared the house, she was shot through the back of the head.

She regained consciousness nearly two weeks later in hospital. She is now unable to eat solid food, cannot work, or afford to pay for an operation that would help ease much of her disability.
Three years after the anarchy, Steve Otieno, 23, still has a bullet lodged in his body. A visit with a friend to the petrol station was not, according to him, supposed to expose him to any danger.

"We heard people shouting as they came in our direction. There was a confrontation between police and the public. The petrol station is located opposite the police station and, apparently, the people wanted some prisoners to be released, " said Steve.

The police opened fire. In the melee, Steve recalls falling down, with no clue about what had hit him.
"My left leg was broken, and my friend carried me to the police station to seek help, but he was forced to flee after a gun was pointed at him."

Jeremiah Magunga from Vihiga said he knew the policeman from Vihiga police station who shot his 15-year-old son at Majengo market. The policeman still enjoys his freedom and job.

Waki hearings
"Other officers told us that the policeman died in an accident, yet we know that he was transferred to Central Province and occasionally comes around here, " said Mr Magunga. During the Justice Philip Waki hearings, Dr Margaret Oduor, a pathologist based at the Kisumu Provincial General Hospital, testified that 56 bodies and eight body parts were taken to the hospital. Fifty of the bodies had indications on the cause of death as gun shot wounds.

According to Dr Oduor, 53 per cent of the casualties had been shot from behind, indicating that police shot people who were running away, and not with the aim of immobilise but with the purpose of killing and maiming.

Three of the dead were under the age of 14 years (one of them a 10-year-old girl) and three were female. One of the children, a 12-year-old boy, was shot twice in the back. Further, a 45-year-old woman was shot and killed in her home just outside the town's central business district.
"The commission could find no legal or operational basis for justifying the shooting of civilians from behind at any time, given the circumstances presented to it, " read part of the Waki report.

In Vihiga, 18-year-old Wycliffe Munyesu was shot on the left side of the back while on his way to visit his elder sister in Majengo. "I was unconscious and found myself in Mbale district hospital. I was later told that the bullet was removed but after two months, my chest started swelling, " he said.

Mr Ndung'u Wainaina, the executive director of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict, said in the light of the magnitude of the atrocities, the International Criminal Court alone could not deal with the problems.

"We must appreciate that taking a few people before the ICC will not solve the problem. There are many people who participated in the mayhem who must face some sort of justice. We still need a local tribunal, " he said.

Mr Wainaina argued that the participation of the police was one of the areas that had not been addressed because some of those who committed the atrocities were expected to be part of the investigation and prosecution.

He said the government must give reparation to the victims, besides the humanitarian assistance that they are also entitled to, " he added.

"Such reparation would go a long way in helping the victims who are now finding it difficult to cope with their daily lives. "Most of them have spent the little money they had on medication, which they have not even been able to complete due to lack of funds."

Published on 15/05/2010, Saturday Nation Page: 16