- Overall, Missing Voices documented 152 cases of police killings and enforced disappearances in 2022.
- These include 130 cases were police killings and 22 cases of enforced disappearances.
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Boda boda riders are increasingly becoming new targets for police killings and enforced disappearances, this is according to a report by Missing Voices.
The 2022 report released on Friday shows while people living in informal urban areas were the primary targets in the past, police killings and enforced disappearances are evolving and new groups have become targets.
“Groups like boda boda riders are increasingly becoming new targets. Missing Voices must pivot in documenting this emerging trend,” the report says.
The report dubbed Accountability Now 2022 annual reports shows youth residing in poor neighborhoods in urban centres are the most affected by police killings and enforced disappearances.
It says witnesses are unwilling to come forward to report cases because of inadequate protection services and general mistrust in the Criminal Justice System.
Overall, Missing Voices documented 152 cases of police killings and enforced disappearances in 2022.
130 cases were police killings and 22 cases of enforced disappearances.
This was a 31.5 per cent drop in police killings and enforced disappearances compared to 2021, where Missing Voices documented 219 cases.
Police killings dropped by 30.1 per cent and disappearances by 38 per cent, the report shows.
“This is a positive trend, and we look forward to a Kenya without police violence,” the report says.
Missing Voices is a coalition of 15 Civil Society Organizations that aim to end extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Kenya and call for justice for the families of the victims.
The report calls for sufficient budgetary allocation to the Witness Protection Agency to adequately protect witnesses and families of persons who have forcefully disappeared.
It further calls on the National Police Service to ensure that documentation in the occurrence book indicates all persons in police custody to facilitate rapid investigations of enforced disappearances.
“NPS should ensure those police officers wear the uniform, have their identification badges, and drive police vehicles to be easily identifiable by the public,” it says.