Muslim leaders welcome suspension of clauses in Security Law

Muslim leaders have welcomed a decision by the High Court to suspend some provisions in the controversial and much criticized security laws 2014 (Amendment) Act.

President Uhuru Kenyatta defended the Security Amendment Law (2014)

While applauding last week’s ruling by Justice George Odunga, the leaders maintained that the security laws threatened basic liberties guaranteed by the constitution and would take the country back to the KANU era of misrule and human right violations.
Jamia Mosque committee member Abdulhamid Slatch said by suspending the implementation of some sections in the law, the court had done justice as it protected the constitution of the country.
He said the suspended clauses in the amendment touch on the fundamental rights of Kenyans and deserved to have being done away with. “It is a good move by the court and we are happy about it. It is a victory for all Kenyans and we can see some light at the end of the tunnel,” said Abdulhamid.
The same sentiments were echoed by Nairobi lawyer Ibrahim Lethome who noted that despite the reprieve there were still clauses that violate the constitutional rights of Kenyans and need to be addressed. “It is a good ruling but not good enough. We want the court to suspend the whole Act until enough consultation and input by all stakeholders,” Lethome told the Friday Bulletin.
Writing in the Star newspaper, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) deputy secretary general Hassan Ole Naado described provisions in the law as “dangerous” and urged the Muslim leadership to take steps to ensure that they do not feature in the country’s legislation.
“Muslims need to start another round of engagement among themselves and with the government to ensure that such dangerous provisions that are amenable to all manner of interpretation and misuse are expunged,” he said.
He singled out section 73 of the Act which states that” a person who adopts or promotes an extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically-based violence to advance political, religious or social change” could face a 30-year jail sentence. “Without specifying what exactly constitutes “extreme belief system”, the law gives security operatives a blank cheque to arrest and charge any Muslim with ‘adopting’ and ‘promoting’ any manner of ‘extreme belief system.’ In fact, if not clarified, this provision is capable of declaring all Muslims radicals and getting them jailed for long periods of time,” he said in an opinion editorial published on Tuesday.
In a petition filed by the opposition CORD coalition and the State human rights watchdog, the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNHCR), Justice George Odunga suspended eight contentious clauses saying that they infringe on the fundamental rights of Kenyans. “The government is obliged to take all lawful measures to nip acts of terrorism in the bud, and such measures ought to be supported by Kenyans of all walks of life,” Odunga said in his ruling. “Such moves, however, must pass constitutional and legal muster.”
Among the suspended clauses are Section 56 that limits the number of refugees in the country to 150,000 and clause 12 which restricts the media from publishing and broadcasting information relating to terrorism.
The entire amended laws will be subjected to scrutiny after the Chief Justices constitute a bench of not less than 3 judges to determine the case.

—FRIDAY BULLETIN