Rights activists now demand probe into fishermen deaths

Human rights activists have demanded investigations into the deaths of fishermen at the hands of the Kenya Navy last week.

They called on the Ministry of Defence to take responsibility for the deaths and dismissed reports that the fishermen had defied orders to stop.

The fishers died after the Kenya Navy patrolling the Kenya-Somalia border sank their fishing boat on Friday.

Three out of four missing bodies of the victims were retrieved and buried over the weekend on no man’s land on the Kenya- Somalia border.

The three, Issa Yusuf, Hajj Omar and Mohammed Masuo, were buried after Islamic rituals led by Muslim clerics from Kiunga.

Bullet wounds

The fishermen were said to have left the country in August for fishing within Kenya-Somalia waters.

Nine fishermen who survived the attack were on Friday evening flown to Mombasa for further questioning.

Two of them sustained bullet wounds and are still under interrogation at Coast provincial police headquarters.

On Sunday, the Muslims for Human Rights Organisation (MUHURI) dismissed the assertion by the government that the fishermen were shot after defying orders to stop.

The activist termed the explanation as an “unacceptable excuse”.

MUHURI executive director Hussein Khalid said that the fishermen’s failure to stop their vessel was not a “good reason for the Navy to attack”.

“This is completely an unacceptable excuse to open fire and shoot to death seven fishermen. It is clear to all and sundry that the trigger-happy security forces are operating in a clandestine manner to torture and murder Kenyans,” Mr Khalid claimed in a statement.

He said the officers involved in this incident should be arrested and charged with murder.

“It is wrong and unconstitutional to take away the lives of innocent people for no reason. Every officer must perform their security duties in a manner that is consistent with the law and uphold the fundamental rights and freedoms of others,” he said.

Military Spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the boat was speeding towards Kenyan waters from the direction of Ras Kamboni when its crew were ordered to stop but defied the orders.

“The boat was challenged to stop for identification but continued to approach the Kenya Navy at high speed, and consequently they fired at it,” Maj Chirchir’s statement, added.

It was the second boat to be sunk after Kenya Navy killed 18 Al-Shabaab militants by sinking a ship transporting fuel in Kuday inside Somalia waters.

The Navy has vowed to sink all ships that defy orders to stop for inspection.