April Zhu

They Were Us is a documentary project that reveals the systemic causes of extrajudicial executions through the stories of those most impacted by Kenya’s informal policy of state-sanctioned violence in the name of safety. In these cases, police officers are simply an extension of security policies crafted by the political elite, policies that essentially make poverty itself a crime. Police might be the ones pulling the trigger, but popular narratives of security legitimize ‘shoot-to-kill’ policing. Instead of protecting fundamental human rights, policing is imagined as an urgent response to the need to “stabilize,” “control,” and “eliminate.” Benna Buluma, MVSN Convener, arranged interviews with other people who have lost loved ones from police brutality. Wyban Kanyi interviewed them, translated and edited their conversations. Photographs taken by Betty Press.