In a statement released by the United Nations Human Rights Office, they expressed concern over the police use of force to quell the anti-government protests.
Jeremy Lawrence, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, released a statement in response to the Kenyan protests held last week on Wednesday. They noted that the police department in charge of dispersing the protests was using live bullets and aiming them towards citizens.
” The UN Human Rights Office is very concerned by the widespread violence and allegations of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including firearms, by police during protests in Kenya,” read the statement.
According to the statement, a report they used mentioned that over 23 people had been killed during the protests, while dozens were injured in the demonstrations held on Wednesday.
In addition to this, the UN human rights calls for the police department to facilitate peaceful assemblies and not use any forceful means to disperse the protests. Further to this, any force used must be guided by the principles of legality, proportionality, necessity and non-discrimination. They assert that firearms in no way be used to disperse protests.
” Firearms should never be used to disperse protests,” read the statement.
Alongside the peaceful facilitation of the protests, the organization calls on the government to conduct investigations into the protests. They stated that those who were responsible for the deaths and injuries caused ought to be held accountable for their actions.
” We call for prompt, thorough, independent and transparent investigations into the deaths and injuries. Those responsible must be held accountable. Effective measures to prevent further deaths must be adopted,” read the statement.
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Wednesday’s anti-government protests
The statement was released after the protests were held last week in various parts of the country. There are areas that did not have much impact from the protests while in others, businesses could not continue. There were bus stops that were deserted due to the protests.
In Kondele, Kisumu county, roads were unoccupied and people started playing football on the roads. In other areas such as Mombasa, protestors walked the streets chanting anti-government slogans.
Aside from these areas, there are a few that suffered deaths and violence during the protests. Mlolongo is one of the major highlights of the Wednesday protests. Three toll stations were closed after the destruction of the Nairobi Expressway. A few children were hospitalised after a can of tear gas found its way into the school compound.
The agency urged the government to hold a dialogue with the parties within the country so as to attain peace.
“We appeal for calm and encourage open dialogue to address social, economic and political grievances, with the aim of identifying lasting solutions in the interest of Kenyans.
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