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Kenya: Shock At Mysterious Killing of Rights Defenders Print E-mail
Written by CISA   
Monday, 09 March 2009
Days after a senior UN official severely indicted the Kenyan police for killing innocent people, two human rights activists belonging to a vocal organization were executed on Thursday in mysterious circumstances.

Oscar Kamau King'ara, the Executive Director of Oscar Foundation, and John Paul Oulu were driving to meet Kamanda Mucheke of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights at his office when three men caught up with them and shot them at point blank. A University of Nairobi student was also shot dead in riots that ensued after the killing of the two.

The killings happened only hours after the Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua accused the Oscar Foundation of being a civil society front for the banned ultra-traditionalist Mungiki sect. Mungiki, accused of bizarre killings and extortion, had called nationwide protests that paralyzed Kenya's public transport to push for the implementation of the UN officials.
Local and international civil society organizations have reacted angrily to the killing of the activists.

"We know that the Foundation recently met the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial killings and presented their report on the same," KNHRC said in a statement. "We believe that statements attributed to the Government Spokesman must be taken very seriously and therefore we demand that an independent inquiry on what he knows about the death."

Oscar Foundation is a registered charitable organization that offers free legal services to the poor. Some of its major projects include organizing caravans to offer free legal aid to the poor around the country.

KNCHR said the foundation has a strong track record researching corruption in the police force, the prisons, and police brutality against the urban poor. The latest activity was researching and documenting cases of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) expressed profound shock and sorrow at the murder of the two and urged the government to ensure protection of all human rights defenders.

"In light of these killings, CHRI urges the Government of Kenya to give serious and immediate consideration to the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions in his recent report, following a 10-day visit to probe claims of arbitrary killings amid violence after the December 2007 polls."

In his report the UN Special Rapporteur said that killings by police in Kenya are "systematic, widespread and carefully planned. They are committed at will and with utter impunity.”
Last Updated ( Monday, 09 March 2009 )