“Thieves Should Not Live Among People”: Bare Life and Popular Support for Police Violence in Nairobi

Date de début:

20 Août 2015 - 16:00

Type d'événement:

Séminaire

Publié ici :

09 Septembre 2015

Mis à jour le :

29 Juillet 2017

Mots-clefs:

violence
police
criminalité
délinquance
Nairobi

Zone géographique:

Afrique

Seminar Series "Critical reflections on security", session 2

Presenter: Kamau Wairuri, Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies and Oxford University

In September 2014, residents of Githurai, a poor neighbourhood in Nairobi, protested the arrest of a popular police officer whom they acclaimed for ‘single-handedly’ reducing crime in the estate. The officer had killed two brothers, at different times, whom he (and some community members) said were thieves. This study examines the basis for popular support for police violence through an analysis of community reactions to the deaths of the two brothers. This unique sequence of events exposed the complexities of police-community relations and the tensions that exist within discourses of security and human rights in Kenya and challenging the perceptions of legitimacy of the ‘police reform agenda’. The underlying message of the protest was that killing the two ‘thieves’ was just part of the officer’s job of ensuring security for ‘citizens’. In essence, the young men were killable. I argue that support for police violence is driven by the need for a practical justice mechanism in the margins of the state where the criminal justice system is ineffective and access to rights [citizenship] is highly contested but one in which, nonetheless, the role of the state [sovereignty] cannot be ignored.

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