MOMBASA—More than 200 youths in the coastal city of Mombasa cannot be traced after they were released from police cells, it has emerged. Most of the arrests were made when the police raided mosques in the city, particularly Masjid Musa, Swaffa , Sakina and Minaa.
The mosque were raided on suspicion of terror links, although none of them had been closed as police could not support their case.
The youths were released after local leaders facilitate their release on ground that they would be re-integrated into the society.
“Politicians pleaded with the government to free them from prison, promising to guide them on to the right path. But now, it is shocking the youth have vanished. Where are they and what are they doing? Only a few who can be traced,” Mandera County Commissioner Nelson Marwa has said.
Mr Marwa, while speaking in Mkomani Showground, challenged the parents to inform the police of their whereabouts. He accused the parents of sitting on the information, “They had grenades, firearms and Al-Shabab literature when they were arrested. When they left the prison, we were told they would be rehabilitated. Parents should tell us the truth,” he said.
Mr. Marwa, however did not mention anything about whether the youths could have been extra-judicially killed by security officers.
In a report between November 2013 and June 2014, Human Rights Watch documented at least 10 cases of killings, 10 cases of enforced disappearances, and 11 cases of mistreatment or harassment of terrorism suspects in which there is strong evidence of the counterterrorism unit’s involvement, mainly in Nairobi since 2011.
Nairobi based human rights campaigner Amin Kimathi on Saturday said the bodies of Muslim men have been found around the country and seem to be targets of the government in its anti-terror campaign.
He said by July this year, more than 100 men were reported missing in Mandera, 50 in Garissa and 36 in Wajir and the number is increasing.
