Bodies at landfill prompt Kenyan police watchdog to act

In addition, allegations that protesters were unlawfully arrested during recent anti-government protests in the East African country are being investigated and are missing, it said on Saturday. Police initially reported that the mutilated bodies of six women, bound tightly in plastic bags, were found at a rubbish dump in an abandoned quarry in Mukuru, south of the capital, on Friday. The IPOA later said the remains of at least nine people, seven of them women, had been found and called for swift investigations.

“The bodies, which were wrapped in plastic bags and secured with nylon ropes, showed clear signs of torture and mutilation,” the association said, adding that the site was less than 100 metres from a police station.

Kenyan police have been under intense scrutiny since dozens of people were killed in anti-government protests last month. Human rights groups have accused police of using excessive force. The clashes are the most violent in Kenya since the country gained independence from Britain in 1963. President William Ruto is struggling to contain the worst crisis of his time in power, sparked by planned tax increases.

People gathered at the site where the bodies were found on Friday, chanting “Ruto must go”, the slogan of the wave of protests led by the younger generation. Local television showed body bags being pulled from the water using ropes. The Criminal Investigation Directorate said initial investigations indicated that all the victims were killed in the same manner. The search for human remains continued at the dump on Saturday amid an angry crowd.

The Attorney General’s Office also noted that the site was very close to a police station. It is “deeply concerned” by the findings “which point to a serious violation of human rights.” The police ordered the office to submit the results of its investigation within 21 days, and called on the authorities, such as the International Prosecutor’s Office, to expedite their investigations into allegations of enforced disappearances and deaths at the hands of the police.

The NGO Kenya Human Rights Commission also called for a full explanation. “The perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable,” the organization said via its X online service. Ruto’s government must “hold accountable for this heinous crime.”

Human rights groups have often accused Kenyan police of using excessive force and unlawful killings, especially in slums. They are also said to have run hit squads that have targeted activists and lawyers who investigated alleged police abuses.