LSK issues 5-point directive on extrajudicial killings following BBC exposé

In the aftermath of a BBC Africa Eye exposé that documented police shootings during last year’s anti-government protests, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has issued a scathing five-point directive calling for urgent state action to address both recent and historical extrajudicial killings by Kenyan security forces.

The Wednesday April 30, 2025, statement, titled ‘Statement of the Law Society of Kenya Calling for Accountability on the Brutal Killing of Kenyans and Investigations on Historical Extrajudicial Killings’, underscores what the society described as a damning indictment on the national security, and the ability of the security organs to undertake their mandate.

“The Kenyan reality is characterised by a symbolic irony where those whose sworn duty it is to preserve the right to life have proven to be the greatest threat to its enjoyment,” LSK stated.

In response to ‘Blood Parliament’, the BBC documentary which aired on April 27, 2025, the LSK called for a coordinated institutional response through the following five demands:

1. Prioritise investigations into protest killings

LSK has called on the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to escalate investigations into the killings committed during the 2024 protests to a priority status and resolve both registered and publicly known cases within the shortest time practicable.

“The National Police Service Commission and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority escalate the investigations into the mass killings perpetrated by officers during last year’s demonstrations to a priority status and work to resolve the outstanding cases, both registered and those not registered but within the public domain, within the shortest time practicable,” LSK stated.

2. Targeted investigations of officers implicated in violence

The LSK has called on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to instruct the Inspector General of Police to launch immediate investigations against each of the officers captured and identified in existing images and videos involved in disproportionate violence or implicated in the extrajudicial killing of civilians.

“That the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions instructs the Inspector General of the National Police Service to sanction and undertake immediate investigations into each of the officers captured and identified in existing images and videos meting disproportionate violence against members of the public and/or who are suspected of or implicated in the extrajudicial killing of innocent Kenyans,” the statement read.

3. Inquiry into historical abuses

The society urged a comprehensive, state-supported reckoning with past abuses, echoing long-standing demands from civil society and victims’ families.

“The National Security Council issues a directive to all investigative agencies within the territory of Kenya to avail all resources and expertise necessary to establish the full extent of historical extrajudicial killings in Kenya. Identify the perpetrators and victims, and take available legal action against or in favour of them respectively,” LSK said.

3. Publicise all existing reports on killings

The LSK emphasised that secrecy around past investigations impedes justice and that the safety of witnesses is vital for accountability.

“All documented reports of any investigations and inquiries that have been undertaken with respect to historical extrajudicial killings be made public and all victims and witnesses thereof be placed under Victims Protection to pave way for prosecution of the officers involved or suspected of involvement,” the statement read.

4. End impunity for security officers

LSK emphasised that while constitutional protections exist for public officials acting in good faith, these do not extend to extrajudicial killings, inaction in stopping them, complicity in concealing them, or justifying them.

The society further warned that extrajudicial killings by state agents signal not only injustice and disregard for the rule of law, but also a grievous threat to Kenya’s democratic foundations.

“These protections only apply where the actions reflect good conscience and legal fulfilment of mandate. These extrajudicial killings, the inaction in resolving and putting a stop to them, complicity in concealing their existence and the impunity of justifying why they have been perpetrated do not fit within actions that are protected by law,” LSK said.

Adding that;

“It is a matter of general consensus that this cannot go on. These protections only apply where the actions reflect good conscience and legal fulfilment of mandate.”

By naming these actions explicitly and linking them to constitutional and statutory obligations, the LSK has placed the burden squarely on state institutions to respond, not with denial or delay, but with justice.