Thread by @Reuters

In Kenya, morgue logbooks record the cause of death reported by police when they bring in bodies. @reuters spoke to police officers who said that Kenyan police at times mischaracterize deaths caused by officers in morgue logs to cover their tracks 1/8 reut.rs/3BSveFn

Thousands of young Kenyans took to the streets in nationwide protests against tax hikes and political corruption, starting in late June. Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said 42 people were killed during a police response that rights groups say involved firing live rounds 2/8

Some prominent rights groups have accused Kenyan authorities of a cover-up of dozens of alleged police killings, unexplained abductions and illegal detentions related to the protests, which became known popularly as the Gen-Z protests because of their youthful demographic 3/8

Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights, a government-funded body, recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearances in the period between the protests starting in June and December, compared to just nine cases in the previous 18 months 4/8

For this story, @reuters reviewed three months of logbook entries covering the protest period and its aftermath at the Nairobi Funeral Home, Kenya’s busiest public morgue, which is where police take unidentified bodies 5/8

Between June 25, the day of the parliament protests, and Sept. 30, police recorded just nine fatalities as gunshot deaths, less than half the gunshot deaths recorded in those months a year ago 6/8

In the same three-month period, the morgue logs reveal 94 deaths attributed by police to mob justice and drownings, compared to 59 in the same period a year earlier. The morgue received 694 bodies from police in the period, up by a quarter from the year-before period 7/8

In a Dec. 31 speech, Kenya’s President William Ruto acknowledged 'instances of excessive and extrajudicial actions by members of the security services.' Read @reuters full investigation: 8/8reut.rs/4gEf7dN