Protests in Kenya: After dozens of deaths, people are confronted with police violence

The latest wave of violence in Kenya, which left dozens of people dead as police cracked down on protests across the country, began with the shooting of 30-year-old Rex Masai.

The killings have further undermined what little faith there is in the police to keep order, and with a new wave of protests looming, there are fears about how security forces will respond.

WARNING: This article contains descriptions of violence that some readers may find disturbing.

June 20 marked the second day of demonstrations against a finance law that would impose new taxes. The previous day of action had passed without major incidents, but as the sun set that Thursday, something changed in the heart of the capital, Nairobi.

The protesters became more and more defiant. The police switched from water cannons and tear gas to live ammunition.

Mr Masai was hit particularly hard: he was shot in the thigh and bled to death.

“My hands were covered in blood,” says his friend Ian Njuguna, who rushed to his aid when he fell to the ground.

But when he and another friend tried to carry him to a nearby hospital, “the officer fired tear gas at us as we carried our dying friend.”

“We tried desperately to talk to him and begged him not to leave us.”

At least four police officers have been brought to justice for shooting and killing demonstrators over the past four weeks. At the same time, calls for justice for the victims of the alleged excessive use of force are growing louder.

But the investigation proved difficult.

“We have encountered a lack of cooperation from the police and to some extent even our officers have been intimidated,” John Waiganjo, a commissioner of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), told the BBC.

However, the investigation into the Masai case has not yet led to any criminal prosecution. Investigators are currently trying to gather further evidence and record statements.

Mr Waiganjo did not comment on this specific case, but explained that when investigating injuries or deaths, the IPOA requires information on the origin of the weapons used and the identity of the officers allegedly involved.

The BBC has verified a video taken around the same time and presumably at the same location that Mr Masai was killed, which appears to show a plainclothes police officer firing into a crowd of protesters fleeing down a street.

Mr Njuguna says he believed the police officer who shot his friend was alerted to his profile because of his dreadlocks.

“He was accused of stealing a phone. There was a shop that was robbed. They thought he was one of the looters and shot him – for what? For dreadlocks,” he tells the BBC, sounding angry and frustrated.

On the night he was killed, according to Mr Masai’s family, the doctor who certified his death confirmed that a bullet was lodged in his thigh, with a visible wound on one side but no exit wound on the other.

“When I got there (where he died), I asked the paramedics to uncover my son’s body,” his mother Gillian Munyao told the BBC a day after the incident. She saw where the bullet had entered his leg.

After the autopsy, Mr Masai’s family and friends were shocked to learn that no bullet was found in his body. They suspected that it had been removed at some point.

When the BBC informed Mr Waiganjo of the allegation of a lack of evidence, he was not surprised given the difficulties IPOA had in securing items to assist its investigation.

This can hinder the search for justice, even though the IPOA has the power to compel institutions to release all relevant information.

The BBC has asked acting police chief Douglas Kiricho for comment on allegations that he obstructed investigations and used excessive force against protesters.

Although he confirmed the request and instructed the police spokesman to answer our specific questions, at the time of publication of this article no response had been received despite repeated reminders.

The police’s conduct has led to a lack of trust in the system among many Kenyans.

Not surprisingly, the IPOA says it has had difficulty getting witnesses to testify in the case of Mr Masai or the others, as people are often afraid to reveal themselves. The IPOA uses allegations of killings, arbitrary arrests and abductions spread on social media to launch investigations.

Looking at the weeks of protests as a whole, BBC Verify found dozens of videos that appear to show what activists and the police watchdog say would be excessive use of force and abuses by police in quelling the protests.

The BBC was able to verify the location and time of the incidents by comparing landmarks visible in the video with Google Street View images and satellite maps, local media coverage and other videos showing the same events.

The videos range from shootings at unarmed demonstrators, beatings with batons, attacks on first aid workers, attacks on journalists and even kidnappings.

A video taken next to the parliament building shows a protester walking towards police with his arms raised. Moments later, shots are fired.

Later we see him being dragged into the back of a police car, screaming and with wounds on both legs.

“I didn’t do anything, I didn’t set fire to a car… they shot at me for no reason,” he says, pointing to the wounds on his legs.

“It is not justified to use live ammunition or even rubber bullets against people who are unarmed and who generally do not offer violent confrontation to the police,” says Irungu Houghton, executive director of the Kenyan branch of the human rights organization Amnesty International.

He argues that there is a clear legal framework for policing in the country. “You can’t read more than one page without seeing the words human rights and service to the citizen.”

However, he believes the problem is deeply rooted in the system: “Instead of de-escalating the talks or enabling peaceful protests, we have seen attempts to prevent peaceful protests. And that is exactly where it fails.”

He argues that policing can work if leaders understand that the role of the police is to reduce tensions.

“The police are not allowed to use tear gas canisters or water cannons, or even live ammunition, during peaceful demonstrations,” says Waiganjo.

Their role is to guide the protesters along an agreed path and “may only use firearms if a person’s life is in danger.”

When asked if she was confident that justice would prevail, Masai’s mother said: “You know how the government works here, but I trust in the best.”

“I would say to the police at the upcoming protests: You are parents, just like us. The pain we feel should be yours too. We will not take revenge. We leave it to God.”