“What Do We Tell The Families” right groups frustrated by increase in extrajudicial killings

By: Abdikadir Ukash

NAIROBI—At least 81 cases of police-instigated cases of deaths and forced disappearances have been reported in the coast since 2012, a Mombasa rights group claims.

In a report titled “What Do We Tell The Families?”  released on Wednesday at a Nairobi hotel, Haki Africa termed the cases epidemic.

“The report was compiled after investigations that presented compelling evidence,” Haki Africa director Hussein Khalid said at the launch of the report.

The report includes 22 deaths due to excessive use of force by the police, four while in police custody, 31 cases of extrajudicial killings and 24 enforced disappearances.

Khalid said most of the victims were Muslim youths suspected  to have been terrorists.

“In the minds of authorities and police already prejudiced against certain communities, suspicion is not often not the neutral or objective term,” he said.

He added that, “We often ask why people should care about the killing of people described as terror suspects. The label, although frequently deployed by security agencies, is increasingly nebulous and ill defined.”

The rights groups argued that if legal redress is not provided and justice achieved for the victims and their families, the problem could offer a fresh recruitment for terror groups who use such anger to gain ground and support.

“Coastal communities are increasingly caught between two fires,” a press statement by the right group said.

“The violence meted out indiscriminately by the security forces and the threat of extremism against those who don’t share their views.”

An amateur photograph showing details of what was discovered in Mandera last year believed to be result of extrajudicial killing. (Courtesy: Facebook)

The chairman of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Macharia Njeru said, “The cases are real, serious and  deserving of acknowledgement by all players in the security sector if a solution has to be found.”

He called on the police service to be more professional and increase community engagement, a call the police seems to ignore. However, security experts believe it could boost trust between the police and the communities that suffer brutality.

“It is not enough to say lofty things on police transformation whereas their action speaks the contrary,” the chairman said.

”The tone to end extrajudicial killings should be set by the top command within the police service, if we’re to bring to an end this culture of collective punishment and violation of the rule,” Mucheru stated.

Reacting to the report, Murshad Abdalla, a National Police Service commissioner, defended the police against what has been captured in the right’s group saying it was isolated and perpetrated by few police individuals.

“The cases were not rampant, systematic or sanctioned by top security officials as documented by human rights group,” he said.

When pressed to explain measures the force was taking to curb the actions of the rogue police officer he talked about,  he replied: ”If you want to go the route of a debating society, I wont be part of it.”