How Kenya police hid killings of anti-government protesters

By Ammu Kannampilly

Nineteen-year-old Charles Owino was killed by a gunshot to the head during a day of anti-government protests near Nairobi in July, according to an autopsy report seen by Reuters.

But Kenya’s police recorded his death as a road accident, his brother said, citing the morgue logbook he was shown after he visually identified Owino’s body. Reuters has not seen a copy of the logbook entry.

In a separate case, police said Shaquille Obienge, 21, died in a road accident, his father told Reuters, also citing an entry in the morgue logbook.

But Obienge was shot in the neck, according to the government’s own autopsy report conducted after his father visually identified his body. Obienge, who was also a protester, died the same day as Owino, in the same Nairobi suburb of Kitengela, according to the report seen by Reuters.

In Kenya, morgue logbooks record the cause of