Security agencies accused of illegal killings in war against al Shabaab

Police Spokesman Charles Owino is sprinkled with fake blood (red liquid) early this month during a protest against extra-judicial killings. A new report accuses Kenyan security agencies of killing 11 people and making 34 others disappear in the past two years. (PHOTO: COURTESY/ STANDARD)

The fear of arrest and death is real among relatives who have nowhere to turn to when their kin are snatched by security agents, according to Human Rights Watch.

The human rights group has documented killings and enforced disappearances by security agencies in parts of the country, some in the fi ght against terrorism.

The report has captured chilling details of the atrocities meted out to terrorism suspects. This now puts the country,
which is still reeling from the recent killing of a lawyer, his client and taxi driver, on the spot yet again over extra-judicial killings and disappearance of people in the hands of law enforcers.

A new report accuses Kenyan security agencies of killing 11 people and making 34 others disappear in the past two years.

The report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the military, police, National Intelligence Service and Kenya Wildlife Service officials of involvement in the incidents.

The 87-page report titled “Deaths and Disappearances: Abuses in Counter-terrorism Operations in Nairobi and in Northeastern Kenya”, documents 34 instances in multi-agency security operations.

It details how the agencies participated in raiding homes to arrest people who were allegedly suspected of links with Al Shabaab terror group.

However, police spokesperson Charles Owino said the service was studying the report and would respond accordingly.

“In each case, although families reported the disappearance to the police and sought help from various authorities, the authorities failed to inform them of the detainees’ whereabouts or to properly investigate allegations of abuse,” says part of the report released yesterday.

It documents abuses involving law enforcement agencies related to operations aimed at thwarting the threat posed by Al Shabaab in counties in north-eastern Kenya between December 2013 and December 2015.

“The security officers who carried out arrests or searches documented in this report were, in most cases, not uniformed and did not have identification insignia and failed to identify themselves, making it difficult for families to trace their relatives or seek justice,” says the report.

Scope of abuse

The report calls on President Kenyatta to publicly acknowledge the scope and gravity of the numerous allegations and condemn any such abuse by security forces.

“He should direct security forces to comply with international human rights law, end enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and torture, and direct the security agencies and prosecutors to take all necessary steps to hold those responsible to account. Furthermore, he should establish an independent and credible multi-agency commission to investigate and report on the scope of abuses in counter-terrorism operations countrywide,” says the report.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW, said rounding up people and refusing to disclose their whereabouts was a serious crime and only compounds mistrust in the security forces.

HRW spent more than eight months investigating the abuses in Nairobi and in the north-eastern counties of Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera, and interviewed 117 people.

The lobby group said police have not meaningfully investigated these deaths.

In one instance, a body was exhumed in Mandera in response to public demand, but the Government has not conducted an inquest or any meaningful investigations as required by law.

Counter-terrorism operations in north-east Kenya started soon after the September 2013 attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, but intensified after the April 2015 attack on Garissa University College in which 147 people, including 142 students, were killed.

The rights agency wants the Government to provide basic information regarding the identities, fate and whereabouts of people arrested in these operations.

It also calls on donors, including USA, UK and EU, to publicly denounce human rights abuses in Kenya.