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Justice must be served after lawyer’s execution

IJM Kenya Field Office Director Claire Wilkinson, says they not only want this to be the last such incident, but a major turn for police reforms with a move to get rid of the rogue officers/MOSES MUOKI

IJM Kenya Field Office Director Claire Wilkinson, says they not only want this to be the last such incident, but a major turn for police reforms with a move to get rid of the rogue officers/MOSES MUOKI

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 1 – The International Justice Mission on Friday vowed to pursue all necessary legal measures to ensure those behind the killing of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and a taxi driver face justice.

IJM Kenya Field Office Director Claire Wilkinson said they not only want this to be the last such incident, but a major turn for police reforms, with a move to get rid of rogue officers.

“We are very angered and sad about this incident,” Wilkinson said. “I do not think the police as the entire institution is rogue; I believe there is hope for police. But I believe there is a pattern of abuse that is beginning to emerge for example from the Administration Police.”

She said she was confident that the ongoing probe will be fruitful and all those involved arrested and prosecuted “for their evil deeds.”

“What we have seen from the very beginning is their desire to find the culprits. We are very content with how the matter has been treated,” she said.

Already, three police officers have been arrested, with Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet saying circumstantial evidence linked them to the murders.

He said the officers will face charges including murder.

“I reject claims there are death squads in the police. These are rogue officers just like any society with rogue people,” he said.

The arrest of the three follows pressure mounted by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) which handed a petition to the IG on Wednesday, and immediately filed a case in court seeking orders to have police compelled to produce the three persons “dead or alive.”

An interim order was issued Friday for the police to present a preliminary report on the matter.

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The advocate was working as an investigator with the International Justice Mission and was abducted after attending court in Mavoko on June 23, in a case involving an Administration Police officer.

Other human rights organisations have condemned the killing, with International Commission of Jurists Executive Director Samwel Mohochi saying more needs to be done to reform the police service besides the vetting exercise.

“Yes, we have had ongoing police reforms and we do observe that the National Police Service has to grapple with criminality from within,” he stated.

“We have to remain alive to the fact that enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings are becoming normal in this country.”

According to officials who saw the bodies, the three victims underwent severe torture.

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