License to Kill - Are we giving the police too much power?
In two separate incidents this weekend (March 1st to 2nd) six suspects were shot dead by police on suspicion of robbery. According to police, five of the suspected robbers were gunned down after trying to steal tires and load them into a lorry from Express Kenya in Industrial Area in Nairobi. Nairobi Police Chief Benson Kibue says the five thugs had tied watchmen and loaded the tires onto a truck when they were confronted by police.“Three of the suspects managed to escape but five were unfortunately fatally wounded. The four guards were rescued,” says Kibue. The other shooting that occurred this weekend, was a perpetrator armed with crude weapons and a toy pistol, which has raised neglected questions on the justifiable circumstances of using lethal force.
According to the Service Standing Orders the Police is only meant to use deadly force to protect the officer or others from what is “reasonably believed” to be a threat of death or serious bodily harm. The National Service Act was amended last year to give the police service wider latitude in its use of firearms. It empowers police officers to use firearms to protect property, to stop a person charged with a felony, and to stop a person attempting to rescue a person charged with a felony. This is in contravention of the UN Basic Principle on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement officials where lethal use of firearms is only permissible in order to protect life. One would think that the life of a citizen of Kenya would be worth more than property, or at the very least worth more than a lorry or some tires.
Our learned friends inform us that to prevent abuse of powers and maximize efficiency the rule of law - the basis of the Kenyan legal system – dictates that each arm of government has checks and balances. In this case what system is in place to ensure that the Police do not abuse these vast powers endowed on them? By providing a skewed basis for the justification of extra judicial killing the Act gives the Police a legal defense for their actions, including murder: “[The suspects] were challenged to surrender but defied the orders, prompting the police to shoot them,” says Mr. Kibue. Is it that really what justifies murder these days Mr. Kibue?
The rule of law also maintains that every person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. Police should have neither the authority nor the capacity to gun down suspects without due cause, and the mere protection of property is not what a moral society would consider a due cause. That is not justice. It’s murder. The six dead suspects should have been tried in a court of law not at the end of a gun.
In addition only proportionate force should be permitted in dealing with armed suspects; and a public review of the events and the involved officers should be mandatory and expediently follow any shoot out. This serves to check the actions of the officers as well as warn other officers of the consequences of using lethal force.
This seemingly unchecked power disturbs the peace of mind of many Kenyans arousing queries on accountability, investigations after the fact, and proportionality of use of force by Police. Who are these officers accountable to for their actions? Will there be any investigation into these killings? And what is the administrative protocol following such an incident?
Old questions of corruption and impartiality of the Police are coming up again. In the past the security sector was viewed as being badly governed, lacking a value system, and known for its extrajudicial killings and corruption. The key reasons given for the poor performance was that the police existed to protect political and not public interest. In drafting the current Consitution, improving the efficacy and reliability of the security sector, and specifically the Kenya Police Service was one of the main targets. The aforementioned amendments serve to undo the improvements made to the administration of police authority and have led us to this situation now, with six men dead without arrest or a fair trial and in the defense of property. How much property do you think their lives are worth? How much is yours?
Opinion by Ondi Madete
