Kenyan police accused of killings, arson in ethnic violence sparked by elections dispute

[Robbien]

Source: AP

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Noor Adam screamed his children's names again and again as he lay bleeding from a bullet wound in front of his blazing shop, but they burned to death anyway.

The Kenyan shopkeeper said the fire was started by police from a different tribe. Police deny the accusation, though human rights groups accuse them of unjustified killings and excessive force in response to riots protesting disputed election results that have killed more than 300 people.

. . .

Adam said he was sleeping in his shop alongside Saida, his 7-year-old daughter and his 17-year-old son, Rashid, when the police arrived on Dec. 29. «When I showed my ID, they (police) said, 'He's from the Luhya community ... Shoot him,»' They shot him in the leg, then turned their attention to his shop. «I saw the police set the shop on fire. I told them I had children inside,» he said.


Witnesses and victims told The Associated Press they saw police officers shooting unarmed civilians, although the government insists they are not using unnecessary force.

«These are serious allegations ... I would be very shocked. The police have been very restrained,» said government spokesman Alfred Mutua. He said anyone shot by police was probably a rapist. And he charged that Odinga was telling people to accuse the police of violence as a political ploy.

But 23 civil organizations including the state-funded Kenyan National Commission of Human Rights complained Saturday that «One of the forms that violence has taken is in the extraordinary use of force by Kenya's police force ... to the extent of extrajudicial executions.

Read more: http://www.pr-inside.com/kenyan-police-accused-of-killings-arson-r372533.htm

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And this is the guy who is offering a "Unity" government to the opposition. It is wise that Odinga is not buying into the obviously dangerous ploy.