Extrajudicial killing of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and their taxi driver

Torture / Extrajudicialkilling

Kenya
July 14, 2016

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of theWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Kenya.

Description of the situation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the extrajudicialkilling of human rights lawyer Mr. WillieKimani, together with his client Mr. Josephat Mwenda and their taxi driver, Mr.Joseph Muiruri. Mr. Kimani, a humanrights lawyer based in Nairobi, worked with the internationally knownorganization International Justice Mission (IJM)[1], was a board memberof Right Promotion Protection (RPP), and was affiliated with the Law Society ofKenya (LSK).

According to the information received, on,July 1st, 2016, the bodies of the three men were recovered from theOl-Donyo Sabuk River in Machakos Country, 73km northeast of Nairobi. They hadbeen missing since June 23, 2016, at around 12 pm, as they were traveling homeafter filing a complaint against a police officer in a corruption case.

Thepost-mortem report into the deaths of Messrs. Willie Kimani, Josephat Mwenda,and Joseph Muiruri showed that they were brutally beaten and tortured beforebeing killed. The pathologist found that human rights lawyer Mr. Kimanisuffered from a skull fracture after being repeatedly hit in the head with aheavy object. The taxi driver, Mr. Muiruri, also had injuries to his head andappeared to have been strangled. The client, Mr. Mwenda, appears to havesuffered the most with injuries to his head, neck and chest. He also sufferedfrom a skull fracture and had blood in his chest.

On July 2, 2016, Inspector-General of PoliceJospeh Boinett confirmed that three AP officers, Frederick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet andSylvia Wanjikuwere being held in relation to the killings. They appearedin court on Monday, July 4, 2016, where the judge ordered that they be held incustody for two weeks until investigations are carried out. The same day,hundreds of Kenyan human rights defenders launched street protests in Nairobicalling for justice in response to the killings.

TheObservatory fears that such killings might be related to a complaint filed withthe Independent Policing Oversight Agency (IPOA)[2]last year by Mr. Mwenda, in relation to violations carried out against him by asenior officer stationed at the Syokimau AP Camp.

OnApril 10, 2015, Mr. Mwenda was riding with a friend on his motorcycle when theywere stopped by two AP police officers in civilian clothes. One of the officersreportedly shot Mr. Mwenda in the arm, after which he and his friend were takento the hospital and then placed in police custody. After filing a complaintagainst the police, Mr. Mwenda was charged with “being in possession ofnarcotic drugs,” “gambling in a public space,” and “resisting arrest”.

SinceMr. Mwenda reported the incident to the IPOA, he had been subject to persistentthreats and harassment. On December 13, 2015, the officer that had previouslyshot Mr. Mwenda, along with a few other AP officers, picked him up from hishouse and took him to the Mlolongo Police Station and charged him with six trumped-upcharges. On February 16, 2016, another incident occurred after two men claimingto be from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) picked up Mr. Mwendafrom court for alleged robbery.

TheObservatory would like to recall that the aforementioned killings are part of abroader pattern of abuses carried out by Kenyan officials. According to Kenyanhuman rights institutions and NGOs, in the past six years the number ofextrajudicial killings involving Kenyan police or security services is in the highhundreds[3].

TheObservatory strongly condemns the murders of Messrs. Willie Kimani, JosephatMwenda, and Joseph Muiruri and urges the authorities to conduct an immediate,thorough, impartial and transparent investigation into these killings and toproperly prosecute those responsible, as well as to grant adequate reparationsto the families of the deceased.

Moregenerally, the Observatory urges the Kenyan authorities to adopt effectivemeasures to ensure the protection of the physical and psychological integrityof all human right defenders in Kenya.

Actionsrequested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities in Kenya, urging them to:

i. Carry out an immediate, thorough, impartial and transparentinvestigation into the above-mentioned events and more in general into all actsof enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings occurring within theKenya Police Service, in order to identifyall those responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and sanctionthem as provided by the law;

ii.Guarantee adequate reparation to the families of Messrs.Willie Kimani, Josephat Mwenda, and Joseph Muiruri;

iii. More in general, guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Kenya;

iv. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, in particular with its Articles 1 and 12.2;

v.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedomsin accordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Kenya. Addresses:

· Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya, StateHouse, Statehouse Road, P.O Box: 40530 00100, Nairobi, Kenya., Fax:+254-020-2436, Email: president@statehousekenya.go.ke
· Hon. William Ruto, Deputy-President of the Republic of Kenya,Office of The Deputy President, Harambee Avenue, P.O. Box 74434 - 00200Nairobi, Kenya., Tel: +254 20 3247000/1/2/3/4/5, Email: dp@deputypresident.go.ke
· Hon. Joseph Nkaissery, Interior & Coordination of NationalGovernment, Harambee House, Harambee Avenue, P.O Box 30510,00100 Nairobi,Tel: +254-20-2227411, Email: ps.interior@kenya.go.ke
·Commissioner of Police, Kenya Police Headquarters, Vigilance House,Harambee Avenue, P.O. Box 30083, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel:+254-020-341411/6/8, Email: commissioner@police.go.ke, complaints@police.go.ke
· Commissioner Kagwiria Mbogori, Chairperson, Kenya NationalCommission on Human Rights, Fax: +254-020- 2716160 E-mail haki@knchr.org
· H.E. Mr. Stephen Ndungu Karau, Permanent Mission of Kenya to theUnited Nations in Geneva, Av. de la Paix 1-3, 1202 Genève, Switzerland,Fax: +41 22 731 29 05, E-mail: mission.kenya@ties.itu.int
· H.E. Johnson Weru, Embassy of Kenya in Brussels, 208 av. W.Churchill, 1180 Uccle, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 340 10 50 / + 32 2 340 10 68.Email: kenbrussels@hotmail.com

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Kenya in yourrespective countries.

[1] IJM is a US-basedinternational organization that focuses on the legal protection of vulnerablepersons, including people experiencing poverty, and abuses of power at thegovernment level

[2] IPOA was established toprovide civilian oversight over the work of police in Kenya

[3] See TheGuardian, 1 July 2016. See also the Report of the SpecialRapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions on his mission toKenya, issued on 26 May 2009.