CORD takes on State over extra-judicial killings

MOMBASA: The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has condemned the Government over mysterious disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the country.

CORD co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka said the Jubilee administration had displayed total laxity in addressing such cases.

“The Government has abdicated its responsibility of protecting the rights of its citizens.

“Instead, Government agencies, especially the police, have become notorious in propagating these killings,” said Kalonzo Sunday at Uhuru Park’s Freedom Corner in Nairobi.

Kalonzo said the Government is mandated by the Constitution to try its own citizens by following the due process. “Unfortunately, we have our own Kenyans being detained in foreign countries, with the Government not offering any aid,” he said.

Former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim said the State had gone back to the dictatorship era by suppressing the rights of innocent Kenyans.

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“Human rights law is a universal law. Anyone who participates in crimes against humanity can be tried by any court in the world. But we have people in the Government who regarded themselves to be above this law,” said Maalim.

He said the war on terror had the total support of CORD and the Muslim community.

“However, due process has to be followed, not for the Government to carry out underground operations that lead to disappearances of citizens,” he said.

Some activists have claimed that the Muslim community has been seen as the target in the fight against terrorism, leading to the disappearance of several Muslim youth.

Recently, three bodies of men of Somali origin were recovered from Murang’a River.

Human Rights Activist Al-Amin Kimathi said the Government is collaborating with the global community to carry out underground operations.

“We have evidence, we have seen the bodies, and buried these young men.

“At the moment we have five captives in South Sudan for three months now yet the government has done nothing to help them. This is the same case as the activists I left in Luzira Prison, Uganda,” lamented the activist.

President Uhuru Kenyatta however has over time insisted that the government is not involved in such practices:

“We do not compromise with terrorists.

“Nevertheless, our operations do conform to the norms of human rights so that no abuses take place,” the President was quoted recently during a media forum.