At least 30 people died in protests in Kenya this week sparked by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country, Human Rights Watch monitor said Saturday, News.Az reports citing AFP.
"Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on (Tuesday) June 25, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing," it said in a statement."Shooting directly into crowds without justification, including as protesters try to flee, is completely unacceptable under Kenyan and international law," said Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
After the announcement of the vote, crowds stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out in clashes unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.
