A report by an international human rights body has accused Kenyan security agencies of killing 11 people as well as the disappearance of 34 others in the past two years in the fight against terrorism.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report has accused the military, police, National Intelligence Service and Kenya Wildlife Service officials of involvement in the incidents.
According to the Standard, the report has captured chilling details of the atrocities meted out to terrorism suspects.
Ttitled; “Deaths and Disappearances: Abuses in Counter-terrorism Operations in Nairobi and in Northeastern Kenya”, the report has documented 34 missing people in the counties of Wajir, Garissa and Mandera.
The findings detail how the agencies participated in raiding homes to arrest people allegedly suspected to have links with the Somali militia group, al Shabaab.
“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,” read in part the report released Wednesday.
HRW executive director Kenneth Roth said rounding up people and refusing to disclose their whereabouts was a serious crime and only compounds mistrust in the security forces.
The rights group now believes the answer to the terrorism threat would be to arrest suspects, charge them and try them in court.
“This abusive approach to fighting terrorism is utterly counterproductive, needless to say if communities feel security forces just pick people off the streets and they disappear forever, this breeds animosity in those communities which is exactly what al Shabaab wants, it creates a breeding ground for terrorism, rather than undermine terrorists.”
It also calls on donors, including the USA, UK and EU, to publicly denounce human rights abuses in Kenya.
When contacted, police spokesman Charles Owino told the Standard he will study the report before making an official comment.