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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The bodies of a human rights lawyer and another missing man were found in a Kenyan river Friday, and the country's police chief said three police officers have been arrested and will be charged with murder.
The U.S.-based International Justice Mission confirmed that the two bodies recovered were of staff lawyer Willie Kimani and motorcycle taxi driver Joseph Muiruri. The body of taxi driver Josephat Mwenda, whom Kimani was representing, is still missing, the mission said.
Evidence shows that Kimani and Muiruri were tortured, the president of Kenya's bar association said.
"This is completely unacceptable. Once lawyers are under threat, then nobody can save Kenyans," Isaac Okero said, adding that lawyers across Kenya will go on strike for a week in protest. The association also called for the resignation of Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery.
Police Chief Joseph Boinnet said circumstantial evidence links the three officers to the crimes.
"I reject claims that there are death squads in the police. These are rogue officers, just like any society with rogue people," he said.
The bodies were found in a river northeast of Nairobi. Two were recovered; the third slipped back into the river.
The International Justice Mission condemned "the horrific violence inflicted upon these men."
Rights groups have said the men were abducted June 23 while coming from court, where Mwenda faced several charges the groups say were trumped up by a policeman after he shot Mwenda without provocation in April 2015.
Mwenda had said he received threats after he reported the officer to the Independent Police Oversight Authority.
Kenya's police force has been vetting all 80,000 officers in an attempt to improve its image. Police in 2015 were involved in more than a third of the crime reported to police, a government survey said last month.
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