BY Hussein Abdinassir

On 10/9/2021 I was part of a section of Muslim Leaders that met with DCI Director George Kinoti. Our appointment with the Director came in the context of the raising cases of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings nationally and specifically within the Muslim community.

The Director to our surprise met us on short notice and was very keen and constructively engaging. We had fruitful discussions and agreed to keep our doors open to each other and deepen our engagements. He committed to personally follow-up on our concerns and give feedback in the coming two to three weeks.

My assessment is that there are units and individuals outside the Anti Terrorist Police Unit (ATPU) and the DCI that are involved in some of these enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

The ATPU is not innocent in this, as over the years they have used illegal searches, unprocedural raids, arbitrary arrests, and incommunicado detentions as part of their modus operandi thus creating a bad reputation with the community.

There is therefore always a natural inclination that they are behind these acts. Now however I have a deep feeling that there are other formations within the security agencies that are involved in these heinous crimes.

And that they know they can get away with it because there is an easy bogeyman in the ATPU. They, therefore, create convenient confusion and deliberate opaqueness that hinders the trial and the search for justice by the victims’ families.

It is the duty of the relevant bodies including the DCI to investigate this and get to the bottom of this theory. Muslims through their political, community, and religious leadership should work closely with Parliament, Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Civil Society, national and international human rights organizations to get accountability for these acts, put the perpetrators to book and have stopped to this phenomenal.

I propose a National Muslim Leadership conference to specifically discuss these issues of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial Killings. If we cannot unite on anything else, this is something we have no excuse on because it has dented the community’s collective psyche.

Jamia Mosque can host such a forum given its centrality and symbolism. This is an election year and just like any other Kenyan community we should stand to be counted and present our issues strongly and negotiate for them to be addressed.

Our single biggest issue is the twin menace of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. We need to address these issues with every candidate aspiring for political office whether within our community or at the national level.

Our community has done this before in the 2005 Referendum, the 2007 general election, and the 2010 Plebiscite. Here the community stood up with almost one political voice on a national level matter.

We should deny votes, power, and influence to anyone who is not willing to stand with us or has been complicit.

Hussein Abdinassir Advocate of the High Court/Deputy Secretary-General Jamia Mosque Committee

The article was first published in Friday Bulletin.