Police torture victims allege heinous sexual abuse, torment

We’ll call him Kelvin Wairimu (not his real name) who narrated his nightmare at the hands of Pangani police who, like all law enforcers, are supposed to keep citizens safe and protect their rights.

They stripped me naked after arresting me in May in Mathare, he said,

Crime-busting officers were combing through the slum in search of armed suspects believed to terrorise residents through stabbings, muggings and phone snatchings in the dark.

Wairimu was caught up in a raid and his ordeal is spine-chilling

“Plainclothes officers made it clear I was not the suspect they were looking for, but they believed I knew the target they wanted,” he said.

“They partially pushed the barrel into my anus and cocked the gun, threatening to finish the job.” 

They strapped a piece of cloth tightly around his face to muzzle his wails and cries for help, he said.

"I was molested and really humiliated," Wairimu said, his eyes flooded with tears, indicating it will take a long time to heal psychologically.

After hours of torture and interrogation, he was let go with a stern warning.

Police spokeswoman Resila Onyango declined to comment and requested the Independent Medico-legal Unit report on police torture be sent to her before she could respond.

But even after a copy of the report was sent to her, she had not responded by press time.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has denied any claims of extrajudicial action by police.

The Star interviewed alleged torture survivors who requested their names not be published. They said they were subjected to horrendous and inhumane treatment that police called investigations.

Mike Nyang’au, 33, got into trouble after joining the Azimio protests against the high cost of living

Police officers in plainclothes who passed themselves off as news reporters pounced on him.

He was hurriedly blindfolded, lifted up and stuffed into the boot of a vehicle. He said he later found himself in a dimly lit room where he was forced on his knees for 12 hours while under aggressive and violent interrogation.

“Raila [Odinga] is giving you what for this, right?”

“Where is Raila?”

“Nyang’au is not your name. What is your real name?”

These were some of the questions he was bombarded with.

“They did not beat me, thankfully. But I was on my knees on a concrete floor all the time, and that tells you enough about how I felt,” he said.

That type of psychological torture also befell a city businessman.

A lawyer familiar with his experience told the Star on condition of anonymity that the man was taken to “a strange room where he remained blindfolded for hours”.

“They served my client multiple random dizzying slaps that had him singing in confession,” the lawyer said.

Eunice Adhiambo, the mother of Alfred Nyongesa, who disappeared and has yet to come home after six months, lives a nightmare.

Nyongesa was arrested, according to what witnesses told her, for participating in an unlawful assembly.

Policemen got into their Nyawita compound in Kisumu at 8pm and ordered they open the door. They were warned that if they took their time, the police officers would smash it open.

Nyongesa had just been served dinner. 

“He was throwing stones at us and running, now it is our turn to show him that we are in government, and you people are not,” Adhiambo recalls one of the officers saying as they dragged her son away.

“It is not clear which police station he was taken to. We have searched in all the stations and found that he was not booked anywhere. I have been to all the morgues around, but in vain. Where is my son?” the crying mother asked.

“My son did not go out to demonstrate, and even if he went, it is his right. Now he has been punished enough. Is he dead or alive? Bring his body so I can have peace.” 

The torture tales could be part of the 482 cases of torture and related human rights violations recorded by IMLU between October 1, 2022, and August 31, 2023. 

President William Ruto has promised to rid the country of police killings and torture.

The report said the number was double the figures for 2021-22.

IMLU said the figures marked “a staggering increase of 250 cases compared to the 232 violations reported in a similar period, that is, from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022.”

“Out of these cases, 351 were torture, inhumane, degrading treatment or punishment, 128 were extrajudicial executions and three were enforced disappearances.”

The report said the “majority of victims-survivors were young male adults aged 18 to 35, accounting for 314 cases; those aged 36 to 65 constituted 121, 0-17 years comprised 44, and those older than 65 accounted for three persons. The majority, 415, were male, and 67 female.”

“President Ruto's promise was aimed at protecting urban youth from police abuse, yet they continue to be disproportionately affected by these violations,” IMLU said.

The report went on: “The data implies the President's efforts to address police abuse and protect urban youth have fallen short, as evidenced by the increase in torture and related violations and the demographic profile of the victims.

"This situation calls for a critical re-evaluation of the strategies and measures put in place to fulfil the promises made regarding police reform and youth protection.”

IMLU is calling for a special tribunal to look into extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances allegedly carried out by the police, to not only help bring rogue cops to justice, but to restore faith in the police and afford some closure to victims and their families.