Human rights groups now want cases against police officers accused of extrajudicial killings and brutality determined under three years.
Amnesty International, Law Society of Kenya and Paralegal Society of Kenya demand that DPP Noordin Haji and the Judiciary work together to cut the administrative and technical impediments that delay cases in court.
They said expediting the hearing and determination of the cases would afford the families of victims swift closure and justice.
They said most of the cases took unnecessarily long in the courts while the accused officers remained at their posts, affording them opportunity to possibly interference with the evidence.
They cited the case of Yassin Moyo, the 13-year-old allegedly shot dead by officer Duncan Ndiema.
Despite being accused of committing the offence in 2020, Ndiema got charged on June 23 last year. His trial did not begin until January this year and has yet to make significant progress months on.
He was released on a Sh1 million cash bail with a condition he does not interfere with the witnesses lined up to testify against him. He denied the charges.
But the lobbies said expeditious trial does not only serve justice to the victims but also guarantees the fundamental rights of the accused officers.
“The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary [should] work together to expedite cases on police killings and enforced disappearances in court and ensure resolution within 36 months,” the lobbies said.
In addition, the activists also want the National Coroners Service Act operationalised to safe guard the credibility of the evidence gathered in dealing with brutality and execution cases and also to ensure such processes are independent of any undue influence.
“[We demand] operationalisation of the National Coroners Service Act to enhance police accountability in cases of extrajudicial executions and use of excessive force,” they said.
The lobbies also took issues with the recent jailing of a journalist for alleged misreporting over a corruption case before a magistrates court, saying it was a ploy to curtail press freedom.
They warned the courts not to use contempt of court proceedings to gag reporters and to preserve the “criminal justice system for worst forms of speech that threaten peace and security.”
“(We ask that) contempt of court proceedings [should] not be used to intimidate and criminalise journalists, whistleblowers and public interest defenders.”
"The criminal justice systems should be preserved for worst forms for speech that threaten peace and security and civil defamation and other complaint proceedings preferred instead for misreporting and defamation.”
The lobbies spoke during the commemoration of 10 years anniversary of Amnesty Internationals’ registration and presence in Kenya. It was established in the country in 2012.
They demanded that the state should deliberately set up funds for legal literacy in the country as well as pro bono legal defense in a bid to decongest police stations and prisons.
“The Interior ministry and Treasury should increase funding for legal literacy and assistance, decongest police stations, courts and prisons and promote early case resolutions and alternative dispute resolution methods.”
