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Kenyan police 'ordered to kill' Kenya police 'ran death squads'
(about 9 hours later)
Kenya's state-sponsored rights body has released a video clip in which an officer says the police chief ordered the killing of suspects. A UN investigator has called for the removal of Kenya's police commissioner and attorney general over a wave of alleged extrajudicial killings.
Police constable Bernard Kiriinya has died under mysterious circumstances since giving his testimony to the Kenya National Human Rights Commission. Philip Alston said: "Kenyan police are a law unto themselves. They kill often, with impunity."
But police have dismissed the allegations, saying they are intended to tarnish the image of the force. His remarks came as video emerged of an officer saying the police commissioner had ordered the killing of suspects.
The UN special envoy on extra-judiciary killings is to release his report. The government rejected the report's findings and said it appeared to have been issued in bad faith.
Philip Alston, who has been on a 10-day visit, is probing the violent aftermath of the 2007 elections and claims of arbitrary killings during security operations against rebel militias in Mt Elgon in western Kenya, and the Mungiki sect in the capital, Nairobi. Mr Alston has been on a 10-day visit to probe claims of arbitrary killings amid violence after the December 2007 polls.
The [police] commissioner was pleased with the work done and instructed us to remain quiet Bernard Kiriinya Police constable The UN rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions said on Wednesday that police commissioner Maj Gen Hussein Ali should be sacked and also urged Attorney General Amos Wako to quit.
He will present his report to a session of the UN Human Rights Council. 'Killing spree'
In the video, Mr Kiriinya claimed that the executions were ordered by police commissioner Major General Hussein Ali. Mr Alston has been investigating allegations that the security forces went on a killing spree against rebel militias in Mt Elgon in western Kenya, and against the Mungiki sect in the capital, Nairobi.
He is seen on the clip recounting how security officers brutally killed a suspect and were rewarded with $65 (£45). There exists in Kenya a systematic, widespread and well-planned strategy to execute individuals, carried out by the police Philip AlstonUN special rapporteur
"They brought him down to the ground and started hacking him with machetes and hitting him with clubs. They disfigured his face so that nobody would recognise his body," Mr Kiriinya says. He lambasted Maj Ali for failing to give him any details in response to claims against his force.
"The [police] commissioner was pleased with the work done and instructed us to remain quiet. They brought us 5,000 shillings ($65) each as a token." And Mr Alston, an Australian law professor, said the attorney general was "the embodiment in Kenya of the phenomenon of impunity".
He was shot dead last October. "I have received overwhelming testimony that there exists in Kenya a systematic, widespread and well-planned strategy to execute individuals, carried out by the police," Mr Alston said of the alleged killings of some 500 suspected Mungiki members.
The KNHCR claims that more than 500 people had been killed by the police and says Major Ali should resign for failing to stop the killings. But government spokesman Alfred Mutua said it was concerned that such far-reaching conclusions had been reached after just a 10-day trip.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe questioned why the rights body had waited so long to release the information. "The government is further concerned that such a report has been released without having sought a government response in accordance to the principles of natural justice, and international practice," he said.
"To choose until he [Alston] is ready to release his findings - any person of sound mind would infer that it is intended to influence the findings of the special rapporteur," Mr Kiraithe said. Earlier, footage released by Kenya's state-sponsored rights body showed police constable Bernard Kiriinya admitting officers had been rewarded with $65 (£45) for brutally killing a suspect.
Impunity He claimed he had seen other police officers execute 58 suspects instead of arresting them and said the police commissioner had ordered killings.
The BBC's Anne Waithera in Nairobi says Mr Alston has heard horrifying accounts of how Kenyan police officers were involved in extra-judicial killings.Philip Alston will report his findings to the UN Human Rights Council Mr Kiriinya was shot dead last October in mysterious circumstances after filming his testimony for the Kenya National Human Rights Commission.
Witnesses recounted how young men and defenceless women were executed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, our correspondent says. "They brought him down to the ground and started hacking him with machetes and hitting him with clubs. They disfigured his face so that nobody would recognise his body," Mr Kiriinya says in the clip.
Mr Alston has urged President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to ensure that those implicated by his investigations are punished. "The [police] commissioner was pleased with the work done and instructed us to remain quiet."
The failure to establish a local tribunal to charge the perpetrators of the post-election violence which killed 1,500 people has led to uncertainty over the government's commitment to ending impunity. 'Callous'
Denying all the allegations, police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the human rights group's claims were "callous and irresponsible".
Some 1,500 people died in the violence after the December 2007 poll The BBC's Anne Waithera in Nairobi says Mr Alston has heard horrifying witness accounts of how young men and defenceless women were executed by Kenyan police, apparently for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr Alston has urged President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to ensure those implicated by his investigations are punished.
The failure to establish a local tribunal to charge the perpetrators of the post-election violence which killed 1,500 people has cast doubt over the government's commitment to ending impunity, say correspondents.
Kofi Annan, the chief mediator, expressed disappointment and said he would hand a list of the suspected ringleaders of the violence to the International Criminal Court if a local court was not set up soon.Kofi Annan, the chief mediator, expressed disappointment and said he would hand a list of the suspected ringleaders of the violence to the International Criminal Court if a local court was not set up soon.
Violence broke out between supporters of President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, after claims that the presidential results were rigged.Violence broke out between supporters of President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, after claims that the presidential results were rigged.
The rivals agreed to share power to bring an end to the violence in February 2008, following weeks of talks led by Mr Annan.The rivals agreed to share power to bring an end to the violence in February 2008, following weeks of talks led by Mr Annan.