Hundreds to Protest against mass killings following discovery of mass graves in Mandera
Hundreds of Mandera residents are expected to take to streets to protest against mass killing and human right violation of the Somali people in North eastern region by Kenyan security forces.
Mandera Muslim clerics and several members of the Mandera County Assembly call for peaceful demonstrations demanding action to stop mass killing and enforced disappearance of suspected citizens.
Sheikh Mohamed expressed his frustration over increased disappearance of Somalis in North-Eastern Kenya saying Counties are fed up with the inhuman killing carried out by Kenyan security forces who conducted several counter terrorism operations that mostly Somali Muslims in the region.
Abdi Osman, a madrassa teacher said that human right activists, MCAs and all other parts of the society will protest against portal killings of Manderians.
“We speak loud enough to call the government to stop eliminating us” he said.
He pointed that the disappearance and killing of citizens Mandera have started years back when the government declare war on terror.
“How can this government achieve its mission eliminate radicalization, when it massacres innocent civilians and those who would have given out tip offs”
This comes a day after Mandera residents have found mass graves containing the bodies of several people who recently disappeared from the town.
One of the bodies discovered reportedly includes a mother of five who was recently arrested by Security forces.
One Mandera residents who declined his named said security forces who are based on the outskirt of the town carry out operations hunt down of the residents who have relatives in Somalia.
“Of late, enforced disappearances appear to be increasing at an alarming rate. The number of people missing in Northern Kenya alone in a very short duration is hundreds” “if you know anybody Somalia, you are blacklisted as a member of Al-Shabab or sympathizer” he said.
He added “the government deployed more Kenyan counterterrorism police who based at former Integrated Academy, they use mask and raid homes at nights”
“The discovery of the dead bodies indicates and gives detail of suspected extra judicial killings by security forces engaged in war on terror,” said Billow Kerrow, Mandera county senator
“[This] is a clear indication that this evil process of extermination of suspects in total disregard of due process is the norm rather the exception,” Billow Kerrow said on Facebook.
“Clearly, this has gone too far and must stop. It’s time we say no, not just as leaders but as a society too.”
The discovery of the mass graves raised questions and condemnations from the civil society members and the politicians in the country and thousands of Norh-Eastern people using #StopKillingSomalis on Twitter, have called on Kenyan government to immediately intervene the situation and call the police to stop the mass killing.
According to Abdikadir Ore, a lawmaker from Northern Kenya who is concerned about these increasing incidences and blames the state for most of the disappearances and for failing to even respond to these serious allegations brushing the important matter of citizens’ abductions under the vague banner of proof or evidence.
The Wajir west member of parliament says such daring exercise can only be executed by the state. He cited an example when witnesses recorded the number plate of a car that forcefully took a citizen from Wajir town and enlisted the assistance of the concerned department to ascertain the validity of the number plate from their database and it turned out the registration number was invalid.
Kenyan counter-terrorism forces appear to be killing and disappearing people right under the noses of top government officials, major embassies, and the United Nations,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Africa division.