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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe recent wave of the deaths of dozens of people in Kenya, as police cracked down on protests countrywide, began with the shooting of 30-year-old Rex Masai.<\/p>\n The killings have further eroded what little trust there was in the police to maintain order. And as a new series of protests is about to begin, there are concerns over how the security forces will respond.<\/p>\n WARNING: This piece contains descriptions of violence that some readers may find distressing.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n 20 June saw the second day of demonstrations against a finance bill that was going to raise new taxes. The previous day of action had been without major incidents, but as sun set on that Thursday something changed in the heart of the capital, Nairobi.<\/p>\n The protesters became more defiant. Police officers switched from using water cannon and tear gas to firing live bullets.<\/p>\n Mr Masai got caught at the wrong end of that. He was shot in the thigh and bled to death.<\/p>\n \u201cHis blood was all over my hands,\u201d says his friend, Ian Njuguna, who rushed to try and help him when he fell to the ground.<\/p>\n But as he and another friend tried to carry him to a nearby hospital \u201cthe officer tear-gassed us [as] we were carrying our dying friend\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were frantically trying to speak to him, pleading with him not to leave us.\u201d<\/p>\n At least four police officers so far are to face prosecution for shooting and killing protesters over the last four weeks, amid rising calls for justice for victims of the alleged excessive use of force.<\/p>\n But the investigations have been tricky.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have encountered non-cooperation from the police and to a certain level some intimidation even to our officers,\u201d John Waiganjo, a commissioner from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the investigation into the killing of Mr Masai has not yet resulted in the start of a prosecution, as investigators seek to gather more evidence and record statements.<\/p>\n Mr Waiganjo did not comment on this specific case but explained that when investigating injury or death the IPOA needs information on where the guns involved were from and the identity of the officers allegedly involved.<\/p>\n The BBC has verified a video filmed around the same time and likely the same place that Mr Masai was killed, showing what appears to be a plain-clothes police officer shooting at a crowd of protesters who were fleeing along a street.<\/p>\n Mr Njuguna says he thought his friend was profiled by the officer who shot him because he had dreadlocks.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was accused of stealing a phone. There was a shop that was looted. So, they thought he was one of the looters, so they shot him \u2013 because of what? Dreadlocks,” he tells the BBC, sounding angry and frustrated.<\/p>\n On the night he was killed, Mr Masai\u2019s family says the doctor who pronounced him dead confirmed there was a bullet lodged in his thigh, with a wound visible on one side but no exit wound on the other.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got to [where he died], I asked the medics to uncover my son\u2019s body,\u201d his mother, Gillian Munyao, told the BBC a day after the incident. She saw where the bullet had entered his leg.<\/p>\n After the autopsy, the family and friends of Mr Masai were shocked to learn that bullet could not be found in his body. They suspected that it was removed at some point.<\/p>\n When the BBC told Mr Waiganjo of the allegation of a lack of physical evidence, he was not surprised, given the IPOA\u2019s own challenges securing items to aid their investigations.<\/p>\n This can derail the quest for justice despite the IPOA\u2019s powers to compel institutions to hand over any vital information.<\/p>\n The BBC contacted acting head of police Douglas Kiricho for a response to the allegations of obstructing investigations and of using excessive force against protesters.<\/p>\n While he acknowledged the request and instructed the police spokesperson to respond to our specific questions, no response had been received by the time of publishing this story despite multiple reminders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The conduct of police has left many Kenyans with little faith in the system.<\/p>\n It is unsurprising that the IPOA says it has struggled to get witnesses to record statements in Mr Masai\u2019s case or the others, as people are often scared to come forward. The IPOA is using allegations shared on social media of killings, arbitrary arrests and abductions to initiate investigations.<\/p>\n Looking across the weeks of protests as a whole, BBC Verify has found dozens of videos which appear to show what activists and the police oversight body say would amount to excessive use of force and violations by the police as they quelled the protests.<\/p>\n The BBC has managed to verify the locations and time the incidents that took place by comparing landmarks we can see in the video with Google Street View imagery and satellite maps, local media reporting and other videos showing the same events.<\/p>\n The videos range from shooting at unarmed protesters, beatings with batons, attacks on people offering first aid, attacks on journalists and abductions.<\/p>\n In one video filmed along next to the Parliament buildings a protester is seen walking towards the police with his arms raised. Moments later, shots ring out.<\/p>\n We later see him being bundled into the back of a police vehicle, with wounds on both legs, screaming.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t done anything, I haven\u2019t burned any vehicle… they have shot me for nothing,\u201d he says, as he shows the wounds on his legs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not justified to use live fire or even rubber bullets on people who are unarmed, and essentially not confronting the police violently,\u201d says Irungu Houghton, the executive director of the Kenyan branch of rights group Amnesty International.<\/p>\n He argues that there is a clear legal framework for policing in the country. \u201cYou can’t go more than one page without reading the words human rights and service to citizens.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n But he reckons the problem is deep-rooted in the system: \u201cRather than de-escalating conversations, or essentially facilitating peaceful protests, what we’ve seen is an attempt to try and block peaceful protests. And that’s where things break down.\u201d<\/p>\n He argues that policing can work if the leadership is clear that the role of the police is to de-escalate tensions.<\/p>\n \u201cIf demonstrations are peaceful, the police are not supposed to use any tear gas canisters or water cannons, or even live bullets,\u201d Mr Waiganjo says.<\/p>\n Their role is to guide protesters along an agreed-on path, and \u201ccan only use firearms when a person\u2019s life is in danger\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked if she was confident justice would be served, Mr Masai\u2019s mother said: \u201cYou know how government works here but let me trust for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say to the police, in the upcoming protests, they are parents just as we are. The pain we feel should be theirs. We won\u2019t take revenge. We leave it to God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"AFP](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/00ae\/live\/f0a17a40-4851-11ef-a5d1-83f7f4001cf5.jpg.webp\")
AFP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nMore BBC stories on the protests in Kenya:<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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