Many vanishing in the fight against terrorists
What you need to know:
- In Nairobi and northeastern and coastal regions, many other families have been deeply concerned about relatives last seen in the custody of security officers.
- Human Rights Watch released a report documenting how Kenyan security agencies have forcibly disappeared with at least 34 people in Nairobi and northeastern counties over the last two years.
- Communities have discovered at least 11 bodies of people later identified as having been last seen in the hands of security officers.
- Those who have been arbitrarily arrested during these ongoing law enforcement operations include, among others, young ethnic Somali Kenyans.
The recent killing of the International Justice Mission lawyer Willie Kimani, his client, and driver reignited public concern over possible police brutality and well-entrenched impunity.
In Nairobi and northeastern and coastal regions, many other families have been deeply concerned about relatives last seen in the custody of security officers.
Even as affected families have searched for relatives and filed habeas petitions, Kenyan authorities have made only very limited attempts at getting to the bottom of these troubling reports of disappearances.
This week, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting how multiple Kenyan security agencies have forcibly disappeared with at least 34 people in Nairobi and northeastern counties over the last two years.
In the same period, communities have discovered at least 11 bodies of people later identified as having been last seen in the hands of security officers.
These cases appear to have occurred in the context of Kenya’s efforts to address the threat posed by the armed Islamist group, Al-Shabaab.
Given the fears of reprisals, the cases we were able to identify and document are very likely only a part of the picture. With no one to turn to or trust, many families are frightened to speak out or to seek assistance.
Human Rights Watch spent more than eight months investigating the abuses in Nairobi and in the northeastern counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, and interviewed over 110 people, including victims and witnesses of counter-terrorism operations, Imams, government officials, journalists, lawyers and police and military officers.
Those who have been arbitrarily arrested during these ongoing law enforcement operations include, among others, young ethnic Somali Kenyans. Some were detained, at least initially, in military bases and makeshift military camps in forests in the northeast and other parts of the country.
In some cases, police officers arrested them and then handed them over to the military for detention and interrogation. Numerous witnesses and some former detainees said they had seen security officers driving with detainees toward military camps or bases.
GIVEN ELECTRIC SHOCKS
A 48-year-old man told us that police arrested him in May 2015, held him for two days at Wajir police station, then transferred him to Wajir military base.
He said that military officers later arrested his elder brother and held them both there.
The military officers kicked, slapped, and beat the man, and gave him electric shocks, then released him after 15 days. But his brother has not been seen since and the authorities deny knowledge of his whereabouts.
We believe that the 34 people are victims of enforced disappearance. That is a crime under international law, which defines it as a deprivation of liberty by state agents followed by the state’s refusal to acknowledge the detention or concealment of the person’s fate or whereabouts.
This is not an effective or sustainable way of ensuring security for Kenyans. The disappearances should stop. Instead, the government should provide information regarding the identities, fate, and whereabouts of people arrested in these operations, and ensure due process rights for anyone who is arrested or in custody.
If the government has evidence that someone is planning attacks or collaborating with Al-Shabaab, they should be charged with a crime and face trial.
These disappearances should be adequately investigated and those responsible held to account. But existing accountability institutions such the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) do not have the mandate over the military or the wildlife service, and so they cannot effectively respond to the numerous cries for justice.
There are also real questions about IPOA’s capacity to handle these cases given the sheer numbers, the geographic range of and the complexity of police involvement with the military, especially during counter-terrorism operations.
Since multiple government agencies and units are increasingly working together in counter-terrorism operations, handing over suspects to one another, and detaining suspects arrested by various units, a commission of inquiry with a broad mandate to investigate the actions of multiple agencies is critical.
The commission should draw its membership from multiple agencies, sectors and expertise. It should also have powers to summon commanders and officers from any agencies.
Namwaya is Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.
