National

Haiti-based lobby condemns Kenyan police brutality during anti-Finance Bill protests

People fall as they run after police use water cannon to disperse protesters during a demonstration against Kenya's proposed finance bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, June 20, 2024. REUTERS

By Mwangi Maina | Friday, June 21, 2024

The lobby fears these actions could set a troubling precedent for the upcoming deployment of Kenyan forces in Haiti.

A Haiti-based lobby group, the Movement Unforgettable Dessalines Jean Jacques (MUDJJ), has written to the United Nations Human Rights Council to express its profound concern over recent incidents of police brutality in Kenya.

The letter highlights the Kenyan police's harsh treatment of peaceful protesters, journalists, and civil society activists during demonstrations against the Finance Bill in Nairobi on Tuesday, June 18.

Keep reading

The lobby fears these actions could set a troubling precedent for the upcoming deployment of Kenyan forces in Haiti.

"We have observed with dismay the harassment of journalists while performing their duties, the use of teargas against peaceful protesters, and the arrest of activists such as Hanifa Farsafi, who were exercising their rights in response to the financial bill of 2024 imposed by President Ruto," MUDJJ stated in their letter.

Peaceful protests that continued through Thursday in various Kenyan cities saw police injure, maim, and kill one protester, who was shot by a plainclothes police officer.

The late 29-year-old Rex Kanyike Masai left his home on Thursday morning and anticipated joining hundreds of youths exercising their democratic rights to protest against the Finance Bill.

Police disperse anti-Finance Bill protesters in Mombasa on June 20, 2024. Photo; Farhiya Hussein

Like other young protesters, he joined demonstrations in Nairobi’s Central Business District titled ‘Occupy Parliament’ and faced the police head-on.

He passed away on the same day, with his parents attributing his death to a bullet wound in his thigh.

This incident has potentially tarnished the image of the country and the police, who were accused of killing an innocent victim who was opposing high taxation policies imposed by President William Ruto's regime.

The lobby group emphasised its concern that the conduct of the Kenyan police in handling domestic protests might foreshadow similar oppressive tactics being used against the Haitian people once Kenyan forces are deployed as part of a multinational security support (MSS) force.

This deployment, backed by the United Nations Security Council and the current democratic government of the United States, aims to stabilise the security situation in Haiti.

"Our concern extends beyond the borders of Kenya, as we are deeply troubled by the potential implications this behaviour may have on the people of Haiti," MUDJJ wrote to the UN body based in Geneva.

Anti-Finance Bill protestors demonstrate at Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Photo: Hafsa Hassan)

“Given the recent examples of police brutality in Kenya, we fear that similar oppressive tactics could be employed against the Haitian people."

MUDJJ called on the United Nations Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, and the African Union to scrutinise the United States government and the UN Security Council regarding the MSS deployment in Haiti.

The group stressed the importance of ensuring that the deployed forces adhere to the values of human rights and justice.

"It is crucial to ascertain whether these actions will align with the values of human rights and justice and if such behaviour would be acceptable if directed towards American citizens," the letter asserted.

"The world belongs to all human beings, and no single group should have the privilege to live free at the expense of others. The Haitian people, like all people, deserve to live in freedom and dignity."