Human rights report: 300 killed or kidnapped in anti-terror raids

KNHRC's Kagwiria Mbogoria (right) and George Morara. A report by the commission shows that more than 300 cases of terror-related killings and kidnappings have been recorded in the Coast region in the last three years. (PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD)

More than 300 cases of terror-related killings and kidnappings have been recorded in the Coast region in the last three years.

A report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) released in Mombasa yesterday indicates that those kidnapped in the region between 2013 and 2016 were all said to be “connected or sympathetic to terrorist groups”.

KNCHR said it would launch a public inquiry in Mombasa, Kwale, Tana River and Lamu counties, where most of the killings were reported. The inquiry will audit the effects of insecurity reported in these areas, human rights violations, and make recommendations to various state agencies for action.

The commission’s chairperson, Kagwiria Mbogori, said the inquiry’s report would be sent to the National Assembly and President Uhuru Kenyatta to inform reforms in the security sector.

She said the spate of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances at the Coast had escalated with the collapse of security in the last six years. She cited three reports published by the commission on rights violations in the region since 2012: one on ethnic carnage in Tana River before the 2013 elections, violations during anti-terrorism operations and killings in Lamu County after the mid-2014 terrorist slaughter in Mpeketoni.

The report shows in recent years, hundreds or thousands of Coast residents have fallen victim to spiralling insecurity leading to deaths,