81 Muslims have disappeared along Kenya’s border. Their wives want answers
Friday, December 09, 2016
By Fredrick Nzwili
Muslim leaders address disappearances and killings of Muslims during a news conference on Oct. 25, 2015, in Nairobi, Kenya. RNS photo by Fredrick Nzwili
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) As Kenyan coastal region sheikhs, imams and preachers vanish in alleged killings and forced disappearances, their wives are demanding answers.
The clerics, some as old as 50 years, have disappeared or died
after security services labeled them terror suspects.
“The common thread is all the victims are Muslims … perceived by
authorities to be actual or potential terror suspects,” said Hussein Khalid,
the executive director of Haki Africa, a human rights organization that has
been offering legal aid for victims’ families.
According to activists, the clerics’ alleged crimes ranged from
radicalizing youth to facilitating attacks and recruiting for al-Shabab, the
al-Qaida affiliate in Somalia.
Kenya deployed troops to
neighboring Somalia in 2011 to fight the extremist group al-Shabab but has
since suffered several terrorist attacks on its soil.
Three years ago, Saada Juma Seleman’s husband, Hemed Salim Ahmad,
disappeared when the police stormed the Masjid Musa after allegations surfaced
that it was hosting terrorism training. He has never been seen again.
Now, Seleman, mother of three, said she doesn’t know what to tell
her 9-year-old son, who wants to see his father.
“I have given him all kinds of explanations, but now I don’t know
what to tell him,” she said. “It’s painful and traumatizing.”
Since 2014, she has embarked on a frustrating search for justice.
Haki Africa has documented 81 such cases from 2012-2016 in a
report titled “What Do We Tell the Families?”
The report, released Wednesday (Dec. 7), indicates the killings
increased after Kenyan troops entered in Somalia in 2011 in pursuit of
al-Shabab.
The disappearances peaked after the September 2013 Westgate Mall
massacre, in which attackers killed 67 Christians after separating them from
Muslims.
A police spokesman, George Kinoti, released a statement in
response to the report. “The National Police Service rejects the allegations as
based on unfounded distortions of the real facts,” Kinoti said. “We also reject
totally claims of religious profiling as we only focus on criminals
irrespective of their religious affiliation.”
Christian clergy said that while they support the government
rooting out terrorism, they do not support the disappearances and killings.
“We urge the government to investigate, since these killings cause
unnecessary fear among the families,” said Anglican Bishop Julius Kalu of
Mombasa. “We want to live in peace. The government should take control.”
The Rev. Peter Kariuki, a Roman Catholic priest, added that the
lack of a resolution may have unintended consequences.
“The Muslims may start feeling one faith is targeted and retaliate
on Christians,” he said.
(Fredrick Nzwili is an RNS correspondent based in Nairobi)
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