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Oscar Kamau Kingara

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Oscar Kamau Kingara
The Oscar Foundation
Personal details
Born14 June 1971
Kiambu,Kenya
DiedFriday, March 5, 2009 (aged 38)
University Way,Nairobi
Spouse
Nancy Wangeci Munene
​
​
(m.1997)​
ChildrenNatalie, Naima
OccupationLawyer, politician, human rights activist
Websiteoscarfound.org

Oscar Kamau Kingara(July 14, 1971 - March 5, 2009) was a Kenyanlawyerandhuman rights activist.Kingara was the founder and director of theOscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic,a human rights organization based inNairobi.[1]His 2009 assassination is widely attributed[1][2]to his work in documenting police killings.[1][3]

Early life

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Kingara grew up in bothKiambuandNairobiin modest circumstances. After graduating and acquiring a law degree, he opted to venture into the family business that involved manufacturing industries, meat and fish processing, real estate, import/export and dealership of building materials in Kenya.

Human rights work

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Kingara was director of Kenya's Oscar Legal Aid Foundation.[4]He was credited with an important role in investigative work behind police killings in Kenya.[5]In 2008, he released a report accusing Kenyan police of killing or torturing more than 8,000 people as part of a crackdown on theMungikicriminal organization.[1]Another report to which Kingara made major contributions,The Cry of Blood — Report on Extra-Judicial Killings and Disappearances,[3]was widely publicised byWikiLeaks.

Assassination

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On March 5, 2009, Kingara and his assistant,John Paul Oulu,were ambushed and shot as they sat in rush hour traffic in a whiteMercedesoutside of theUniversity of Nairobidormitories.[1]Kingara, who was 38 years old, was killed instantly while Oulu died soon after.[1][6]The three gunmen, who were dressed in dark suits, escaped in two cars.[1]Critics quickly pointed to elements within the Kenyan security forces and police as responsible for the assassinations.[1]Following the assassination, WikiLeaks called for witness reports and described Kingara and Oulu as "Wikileaks-related senior human rights activists".[2]Kenyan Prime MinisterRaila Odingacondemned the killings, saying, "We are hurtling towards failure as a state."[1]

TheUnited Nations Special Rapporteuron extrajudicial killings, ProfessorPhilip Alston,has urged the Kenyan government to establish independent investigations into the killing of the two activists. Alston said that the way the two men were killed was likely to cast suspicions on police.[7]

References

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  1. ^abcdefghiMcConnell, Tristan (2009-03-07)."Rights activist Oscar Kamau Kingara shot dead in central Nairobi".The Times.Archivedfrom the original on 2011-06-29.Retrieved2009-04-02.
  2. ^ab"Wikileaks writers killed in Kenya".Hawai`i Free Press/WikiLeaks.2009-03-09.Archivedfrom the original on 2010-12-25.Retrieved2010-12-29.
  3. ^ab"'The Cry of Blood' — Report on Extra-Judicial Killings and Disappearances "(PDF).Kenya National Commission on Human Rights/Enforced Disappearances Information Exchange Center.2008-09-25. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2010-12-14.Retrieved2010-12-29.
  4. ^Murder in Nairobi: Wikileaks related human rights lawyers assassinated
  5. ^WikiLeaks(2009-06-02)."WikiLeaks wins Amnesty International 2009 Media Award".WikiLeaks.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-12-28.Retrieved2010-12-29.
  6. ^Wikileaks Reporthttps://wikileaks.org/wiki/Murder_in_Nairobi:_Wikileaks_related_human_rights_lawyers_assassinated"Murder in Nairobi: Wikileaks related human rights lawyers assassinated" ], "WikiLeaks",Canberra,8 March 2009. Retrieved on 6 October 2013.
  7. ^Rukanga, Mutahi."UN's Alston urges independent probe over deaths","The Daily Nation",Nairobi,6 March 2009. Retrieved on 6 October 2013.
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