State must stem brutal killings by police

On August 9, 2014, Micheal Brown, a black 18 year-old described as a “gentle giant”, was shot several times and killed by a white policeman in Ferguson, a suburb near St Louis, Missouri in the US.

Hundreds of protestors took to the streets, chanting: “Hands up, don’t shoot!” 12 days later in Kenya, on August 21 2014, Kwekwe Mwandaza, a 14 year-old girl, was shot by policemen, in the presence of her two cousins aged 7 and 8 years.  The eight police officers claim that they acted in self-defence.