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The violence broke out after the bodies of the brothers arrested for violating the COVID curfew were found.
According to the police, the police opened fire in central Kenya to disperse the protest of the death of two brothers who were arrested for violating the COVID curfew, resulting in one death.
After the Kenyan police announced that they were investigating the deaths of 22-year-old Benson Njiru Ndwiga and 19-year-old Emmanuel Mutura Ndigwa in custody, violence broke out.
The brothers last appeared on Sunday night, when they were taken away by the police, and they were reportedly still outdoors after a curfew at 10 pm.
According to rights groups, their family found their bodies in the local morgue two days later.
Their deaths triggered protests in Embu, and the police used live ammunition on Thursday to disperse crowds blocking the road.
The two brothers who were allegedly arrested after the curfew were found dead in Embu.
Benson Njiru Ndwiga, 22, and Emmanuel Mutura Ndwiga, 19, have been missing since Sunday last week. They were found lying in the Embu Morgue.
Source: K24#policebrutality pic.twitter.com/eLeKM8LGfy
— MissingVoicesKE (@MissingVoicesKE) August 4, 2021
“Twin Pandemic”
The Independent Police Supervision Agency (IPOA) stated that it has deployed investigators to Embu to expedite the investigation of the death.
“The authorities also discourage the public from taking the law into their own hands by attacking the police… IPOA calls on the public to remain calm and restrained,” the police monitoring agency said.
Human rights organizations welcomed the promise of a swift investigation. They stated that the nationwide COVID curfew has been accompanied by a “double pandemic” of police violence since it began in March last year.
The Police Reform Working Group of the Coalition of Civil Society Groups said: “We regret to note that this is not the first death caused by the police’s enforcement of COVID-19 measures.”
-Police Reform Working Group-Kenya (@ReformsGroup) August 5, 2021
According to statements signed by organizations such as Amnesty International and Transparency International, activists have reported 25 cases of extrajudicial executions related to COVID control measures.
Kenyan civil society groups recorded 166 police killings in 2020, the highest record since data collection began in 2007.
IPOA was established by the Parliament in 2011 to provide civilian oversight to a powerful institution whose reputation is also one of the most corrupt institutions in Kenya.
However, according to the latest data from the agency, IPOA investigated approximately 6,300 cases of police misconduct from its establishment to June 2020, of which only 8 police officers were convicted.
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