By Eddah Waithaka
A grim pattern of deaths in police stations and prisons is exposing critical failures in Kenya’s justice system, with a new forensic report revealing harrowing evidence of physical assault and neglect.
The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) documented 17 deaths in custody and a further 59 protest-related deaths between 2024 and 2025.
Postmortem examinations on these cases, conducted across 10 counties, point to systemic brutality, showing causes of death ranging from multiple injuries causing cardiogenic shock to asphyxiation and severe head trauma.
“Each of these deaths represents a failure of the state to uphold its duty to protect the right to life and to prohibit torture,” IMLU stated in a press release, highlighting the constitutional violations.
In response to this crisis, IMLU, with support from the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), is convening a three-day intensive forensic training for Kenyan pathologists and lawyers.
The workshop aims to strengthen the country’s capacity to investigate and document torture and unlawful deaths using international standards like the Istanbul Protocol.
Transparency Through Science
Experts leading the training emphasized that rigorous forensic science is the only way to break the cycle of impunity.
“The only way to ensure accountability and transparency is really to provide and to exercise the best and most comprehensive, science-based approaches to investigation,” said James Lin, Istanbul Protocol Program Coordinator for the IRCT.
“We can ensure that all of the appropriate examinations are conducted and that the search for justice becomes one that is science-based.”
Professor Dr. Djordje Alempijevic, a member of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, explained that high-quality forensic documentation builds irrefutable evidence.
“Truth is necessary for closure, truth is necessary for justice,” Dr. Alempijevic said. “What we have seen in Kenya the level of documentation is below the level that is accepted by international standards. We are here to push forward and introduce more and more scientific evidence, which will allow rapid and effective delivery of justice.”
IMLU Executive Director Wangechi Grace confirmed the alarming trend, stating, “It is a growing trend. Custodial death is becoming a concern.”
She clarified that the 80 autopsies IMLU facilitated this year confirmed the 59 protest-related and 17 custodial deaths, a process driven by families seeking closure.
Grace also pointed to a major systemic hurdle, the stalled National Coroner Services Act (2017).
This law mandates an independent agency to investigate suspicious deaths, but its implementation remains delayed, leaving investigations in the hands of police and state pathologists.
“The operationalization of the Coroner Services Act is of immediate need. It’s a top priority,” Grace asserted, noting that even the country’s mortuaries are under-resourced and lack pathologists.
She confirmed her organization is in active talks with the State Department for Justice to push for the law’s activation.
As experts work to transform pain into proof, the push for a functioning coroner system represents the next critical battle in ensuring that every life lost in state custody triggers not just a statistic, but a credible pursuit of justice.
