NAIROBI, Kenya – The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) has raised alarm over a surge in deaths occurring in police custody across Kenya, warning that the trend reflects deep-rooted failures in justice and accountability systems.
According to IMLU’s latest findings, 17 people died in custody between 2024 and 2025 in various police stations, prisons, and remand facilities across 10 counties, including Nairobi, Nakuru, Murang’a, Siaya, Mombasa, Kakamega, and Busia.
The organization also documented 59 protest-related deaths through forensic evidence this year, alongside 80 autopsies conducted to establish causes of death.
Postmortem results from IMLU’s forensic pathologists revealed disturbing patterns of injury and neglect.
Some deaths were attributed to cardiorespiratory failure and cardiogenic shock from multiple injuries, indicating possible assault.
Others involved asphyxiation, hanging, or blunt-force trauma, raising suspicions of torture and possible staging of suicides.
“These deaths are not isolated tragedies—they are a reflection of a state’s failure to uphold the constitutional right to life and freedom from torture,” IMLU said in a statement.
To address the gaps, IMLU, with support from the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), has convened a three-day forensic training for Kenyan pathologists and lawyers.
The workshop is led by Prof. Djordje Alempijevic, a member of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, and Prof. James Lin, coordinator of the IRCT’s Istanbul Protocol Programme.
IMLU said the training aims to strengthen the country’s capacity for forensic documentation, investigation, and reporting of torture and custodial deaths using international standards such as the Istanbul Protocol and the Minnesota Protocol.
“Forensic documentation transforms pain into proof and evidence into justice,” the organization emphasized.
Despite the enactment of the National Coroner Services Act (2017)—intended to create an independent agency to investigate unnatural deaths—the law has yet to be operationalized.
IMLU blamed the delay on administrative gaps, including the lack of a Cabinet Secretary for Justice, as required under the Act.
As a result, investigations into custodial deaths remain under police and state pathologists, undermining independence and perpetuating impunity.
IMLU, together with the Police Reforms Working Group–Kenya (PRWG-K) and the Department of Justice, is now pushing for urgent amendments and implementation of the Coroner Services Act.
“A functioning coroner system would ensure every death in custody is independently investigated, families receive answers, and perpetrators are held accountable,” IMLU said.
The organization reiterated its commitment to promoting justice and ending torture, saying Kenya must move towards a future “where every life lost in state custody is treated not as a statistic but as a call to action.”
