Key points
- Rights groups condemn police violence, urge accountability
- Fertiliser depot looted
- Government defends arrests over vandalism and protest chaos
ISLAMABAD: The death toll from protests in Kenya to mark the anniversary of a massive crackdown on anti-tax demonstrations has risen to 19, with another 15 people missing, the National Human Rights Commission said Friday.
Wednesday’s anniversary protests drew thousands of people into the streets across Kenya, descending into chaos when young men battled police and destroyed thousands of businesses, according to AFP.
“The Commission strongly condemns all human rights violations and urges accountability from all responsible parties,” the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said in a statement.
It said it had so far documented 19 fatalities in Wednesday’s violence and 15 “enforced disappearances”.
Treating as criminals
That was an increase from a previous death toll of 16.
KNCHR, a government agency, said 531 people had been wounded and 179 arrested.
Human Rights Watch called for authorities to be held accountable for the abuses witnessed.
“Kenyan authorities should not treat protesters as criminals,” said Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at the rights group, according to AFP.
The United Nations deplored the violence and called for calm and restraint.
The Kenyan government, meanwhile, condemned the vandalism and looting of a national fertiliser depot during the protests.
Looting fertiliser
The ministry of agriculture said more than 7,354 bags of fertiliser, worth around $230,000, were looted in Meru, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Nairobi.
“Fertiliser was looted, fertiliser meant to sustain farmers through this planting season,” the ministry said, calling it “a direct assault on Kenya’s food security”.
“It’s loss threatens to trigger a catastrophic crisis for both food crop and cash crop production.”
Agriculture accounts for about 21 per cent of Kenya’s economy.
Agriculture Minister Mutahi Kagwe called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
Thousands of Kenyans took to the streets to commemorate last year’s demonstrations, in which more than 60 people died, with police firing tear gas and water cannons to disperse them in the capital, Nairobi, according to Reuters.
