Lobby wants commission of inquiry to probe killing of 61 Gen Z protesters

Amnesty International Kenya has launched a petition demanding a commission of inquiry into last year’s violent police crackdown on youth protesters who stormed Parliament.

There are conflicting accounts on the number of deaths that occurred during the protests.

Human rights agencies led by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Amnesty International say there were 61 deaths, while the government says 42.

According to Amnesty International, the commission of inquiry will not only clear the confusion but also hold officers who abuse power accountable.

The petition was published online this week as part of the first anniversary of the June 25, 2024 Parliament insurrection.

Amnesty International believes the petition is part of the pressure campaign to hold rogue cops accountable.

“Sign this petition to urge the government of Kenya to establish a commission of inquiry that will allow victims and other Kenyans to present evidence and investigate the June 25, 2024 police violence. This is a crucial step towards ensuring accountability for the unlawful use of force against protesters,” the petition reads.

On that day, members of National Assembly voted for the controversial Finance Bill, 2024 amid discontent from the public.

Hundreds of youths breached security barriers and briefly entered the National Assembly chambers.

The human rights agencies' report said besides the 61 deaths, there were 67 cases of enforced disappearances, with 40 cases resolved and 27 pending.

The International Medico-Legal Unit conducted 49 autopsies on victims.

KNCHR said human rights organisations facilitated the “release of more than 300 persons, who were "illegally detained” on 25 June.

But then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki last September said only 42 people were killed by police during the Gen Z protests and some 1,208 were arrested.

“There were 42 cases of people who lost their lives during the Gen Z demonstrations. A total of 1,208 people were arrested countrywide during the Gen Z demonstrations and most of the cases are still pending before court for various charges," he told a parliamentary committee.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have consistently criticised the heavy-handed police response that followed. Videos from that day showed officers firing tear gas and rubber bullets at close range, severely injuring protesters — some of whom were unarmed and already retreating.

As the policing architecture is facing a reckoning following the death of Albert Ojwang' in the hands of the police, a coalition of 27 human rights agencies said on Wednesday police have killed up to 49 people since January this year.

The entities including Amnesty International, IMLU, Kenya Human Rights Commission, say majority of the fresh deaths happened in Nakuru at 22, followed by Nairobi's 11.

The organisation complain that "though several months have passed since the protest, no formal investigation has been launched" arguing that "failure to hold security forces accountable has normalized excessive force — and that silence from government only fuels mistrust, particularly among the youth who led the demonstrations."

The lobby is now appealing to the public to sustain pressure on state institutions to act.