At least 34 ethnic Somalis disappeared by Kenyan security agencies since 2015-HRW

Kenya security forces have forcibly disappeared at least 34 people mainly of Somali origin in the country’s north east region, a rights watch dog report said Monday.

In a scathing indictment against Kenyan security forces, Human Rights Watch said counterterrorism measures in the last two years have been excessively deployed leading to abuse and disappearances of of ethnic Somali Kenyans, Imams, and Islamic school teachers.

The report documents 34 instances in multi-agency security operations in which the military was actively involved in raiding homes and compounds to arrest people who were allegedly suspected of links with the armed Islamist group, Al-Shabab.

Those arrested, the report says have not been charged despite being held for over a year and in a number of cases families of the suspects cannot trace them.

“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,” Human Rights Watch said.

HRW executive director Ken Roth has called on the Kenyan government to end the abuses and investigate cases of disappearances.

“People in northeastern Kenya deserve protection from Al-Shabab attacks, not further abuse from the authorities,” said Ken Roth, Executive Director at Human Rights Watch. “Rounding people up and refusing to disclose their whereabouts is a serious crime and only compounds fears and mistrust in the security forces.”

The report notes those arrested by police were later handed over to Wajir military camp in the north eastern region.

The report’s findings comes amid concerns in the past of extra judicial killings by Kenyan security forces especially since the Westgate terror attack and the Garrisa University attack which claimed 148 lives most of them students.