Human rights organizations now want cases involving police officers accused of extrajudicial killings and brutality resolved within three years.
Amnesty International, the Law Society of Kenya, and the Paralegal Society of Kenya demand that DPP Noordin Haji and the Judiciary collaborate to remove administrative and technical barriers that cause cases to be delayed in court.
They claimed that expediting the hearings and decisions in the cases would provide victims’ families with swift closure and justice.
They claimed that most cases took unnecessarily long in court because the accused officers remained at their posts, giving them the opportunity to tamper with the evidence.
They cited the case of Yassin Moyo, a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly killed by officer Duncan Ndiema.
Despite being accused of the crime in 2020, Ndiema was charged on June 23 of last year. His trial began in January of this year and has yet to make significant progress months later.
He was released on Sh1 million cash bail on the condition that he does not interfere with the witnesses who have been called to testify against him. He denied the allegations.
However, the lobbies argue that a speedy trial not only serves justice for the victims but also protects the accused officers’ fundamental rights.
They urged the courts not to use contempt of court proceedings to gag reporters and to preserve the “criminal justice system for the most heinous forms of speech that endanger peace and security.”
The lobbies spoke at the 10th anniversary of Amnesty International’s registration and presence in Kenya. It was founded in the country in 2012.
They demanded that the government set aside funds for legal literacy and pro bono legal defense in order to decongest police stations and prisons.
