United in grief: a survivor of the attack (centre) rejoins her family at the Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi. Demotix \/ Reporter#34145. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n
If
\nanyone doubted it before, the abominable attack on Kenya\u2019s Garissa University College
\non 2 April confirms the depth of Kenya\u2019s security crisis. At least 147
\nstudents, faculty members and others are confirmed dead, scores of others were
\ninjured in the day-long attack and the death toll could still rise. <\/p>\n
The
\nattackers entered the campus at 5.30am and began hurling grenades and firing indiscriminately
\nwith machine guns, before taking scores of students hostage. They later singled
\nout Christians for execution, taunting them and telling them the attack was revenge
\nfor Kenya\u2019s military deployment in Somalia, according to survivors. Al-Shabaab,
\nthe Somalia-based Islamist militant group, swiftly claimed responsibility.<\/p>\n
Garissa
\nis the largest town in Kenya\u2019s north-east region and mainly populated by ethnic
\nSomalis, who are mostly Muslim, but the students were from around the country,
\nof many ethnicities and religions. Witnesses and family members of victims said
\nthat in the initial phase the assailants killed randomly. \u201cWe have relatives at
\nthe university who were not spared by al-Shabaab,\u201da human-rights activist in
\nGarissa county told Human Rights Watch (HRW). \u201cThis has been a big blow to all
\nof us. They were clearly targeting all civilians, no matter the religion.\u201d <\/p>\n
Al-Shabaab\u2019s
\nnarrative that it spares Muslims is belied by its grisly record of repeatedly
\nattacking civilians in predominantly Muslim Somalia\u2014where it has shown no
\ncompunction about murdering students, women and children in countless suicide
\nbombings. So singling out Christians in Kenya seems more of a tactic aimed at stoking
\nethnic and religious tensions than a matter of ideological conviction.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
And
\nit may be succeeding. <\/p>\n
Many
\nmembers of Kenya\u2019s Muslim and Somali communities are paying an especially heavy
\nprice, being twice victimised. First come al-Shabaab and its supporters, seeking
\nto sow terror, hatred and division. Then come Kenya\u2019s security forces, who routinely
\nmete out collective punishment to members of the Somali and Muslim communities,
\nbased solely on their ethnic and religious affiliation. <\/p>\n
For
\nyears HRW and other human-rights organisations have repeatedly documented mass beatings,
\ndetentions, even torture of whole neighbourhoods and villages, in the wake of militant
\nattacks on Kenyan security forces. The military and various police units, from
\nthe administrative police to the anti-riot squad known as the General Service
\nUnit (GSU), have also been responsible for mass extortion and looting in the
\ncourse of raids and operations. <\/p>\n
Human-rights
\nabuses by the security forces long predate al-Shabaab. Kenya\u2019s north-east has a
\ngrim history dating back to the secessionist war which began in the 1960s. For
\ndecades the region was under a state of emergency and the Kenyan military
\ncommitted serious human-rights violations, including one of its most horrific
\ncrimes\u2014the notorious 1984 Wagalla
\nmassacre near Wajir, in which several thousand ethnic Somalis were killed. <\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s
\nTruth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, established after the 2008 post-election
\nviolence and mandated to investigate violations since independence, produced a
\nlong report which provides
\nimportant material on the history of such abuses in the north-east, and the
\ncountry more broadly. The commission found that Kenya\u2019s military and police had
\nbeen the main perpetrators of mass killings, torture and other \u201cviolations of
\nthe bodily integrity\u201d of Kenyan citizens over the preceding five decades,
\nwhether in the north-east or elsewhere. <\/p>\n
Corruption and lack of accountability have long been identified as twin roots of many of the failings of Kenyan institutions, including the police.<\/p>\n
The
\nreport, whose recommendations have not been implemented two years after it was
\nhanded to the president, Uhuru Kenyatta, also concluded that there had been no
\npolitical will to address this dire record. On the contrary, successive Kenya
\nadministrations have gone to great lengths to cover up and deny it. <\/p>\n
Since
\nal-Shabaab intensified its campaign in Kenya in 2011, there have been scores of
\ngrenade and gun attacks, often relatively small-scale but usually killing a
\nnumber of civilians, which have drawn little international attention. Abusive
\noperations by the security forces have usually followed. <\/p>\n
In
\nNairobi, for instance, authorities carried out operation Usalama Watch in April 2014, following
\na series of grenade and gun attacks in the predominantly-Somali Eastleigh
\nneighbourhood of the capital, Nairobi, and in Mombasa. Kenyan police and
\nmilitary deployed about 5,000 security personnel to Eastleigh over several weeks.
\nOfficers beat scores of people, raided homes, buildings and shops, extorted
\nmassive sums, and harassed and detained an estimated 4,000 people\u2014including
\nregistered refugees, Kenyan citizens, journalists and international aid workers\u2014without
\ncharge and in appalling conditions, for periods well beyond the 24-hour legal
\nlimit.<\/p>\n
The
\nabuses during the Usalama Watch operation and others have been documented by various
\ngroups, including the Independent Oversight Policing Authority (IPOA). It has
\nissued several critical reports,
\nraising concerns about slow responses by the security services, failure to
\nprotect civilians and poor co-ordination during incidents. <\/p>\n
Instead
\nof seriously addressing the allegations and undertaking the essential police reforms
\nspelled out in several inquiries\u2014and re-emphasised by the IPOA in its
\nrecommendations\u2014to meet constitutional requirements, the government routinely
\ndenies the scale of the abuses. It has credibly investigated or prosecuted few terrorism
\nsuspects and even fewer of those within the security forces responsible for violations.<\/p>\n
Al-Shabaab
\nappears to understand and exploit this pattern, which plays into religious and
\nethnic fissures in Kenya. Other than Nairobi, the areas with frequent attacks are
\nhome to the country\u2019s largest Muslim communities, whose residents have complex
\nand longstanding political and economic grievances. The anger and frustration
\nmany communities feel is only exacerbated when they are targeted by both al-Shabaab
\nand the security forces ostensibly sent to protect them. <\/p>\n
Why
\nwould most Kenyan Somalis even attempt to report security information to
\npolice, if the likely response is a request for a bribe, with the threat of
\narbitrary detention and beating and, at best, taunts that \u2018you are al-Shabaab\u2019.
\nAs for refugees, in addition to the physical and verbal abuse, there\u2019s the risk
\nof having precious identification documents destroyed or confiscated, as has
\nhappened repeatedly in Eastleigh over the past few years.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Many
\nalso question why they should report police abuse, since no one will be held to
\naccount. In Lamu county HRW interviewed scores of villagers who described the
\nusual pattern of assaults, detention and so on in a security operation there in
\nlate 2014, after armed attacks on Mpeketoni and several other villages\u2014also
\nclaimed by al-Shabaab\u2014had killed more than 60 people in mid-June. A man and his
\nson who were beaten by police never reported the abuse, since the commander in
\ncharge of the unit was attached to the local police station. \u201cWhere do we go
\nnow?\u201d he asked. \u201cThis is not how to fight terrorism.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
If
\nKenya\u2019s government understands that it needs to build trust within Somali and
\nMuslim communities, it has yet to show any sign of shifting course and addressing
\nthe profound deficits in confidence, accountability and competence which plague
\nthe military and police. Instead, Kenyan officials contend that the solution to
\nthe security crisis is to restrict further core human-rights protections.<\/p>\n
Justifying
\nrestrictions on rights as a security measure is not unique to Kenya and some
\nrights can be limited in times of emergency for defined periods. But in
\nDecember the government proposed, and the parliament controversially passed,
\nwide-ranging amendments to numerous laws to expand police and intelligence-service
\npowers, while restricting investigative journalism, freedom of expression and the
\nrights of refugees\u2014in violation of Kenya\u2019s own constitution and international
\nlaw. Courts struck down key provisions, but the government appears to adhere selectively
\nto judicial rulings, weakening the overall rule of law. <\/p>\n
As
\nnews of the Garissa killlings began to emerge, for instance, one of Kenyatta\u2019s first
\nactions was to order 10,000 officers, whose appointments the High Court had
\nnullified because of suspected corruption in their recruitment, to report to
\ncamp for training. The president\u2019s action was symbolic of the broader deficiencies
\nwhich have contributed to the security crisis. <\/p>\n
Corruption
\nand lack of accountability have long been identified as twin roots of many of
\nthe failings of Kenyan institutions, including the police. For instance, there
\nhas been no justice or accountability for the 2008 violence, which saw at least
\n1,100 people die, displaced hundreds of thousands more and nearly precipitated a
\ncivil war\u2014despite widespread agreement that accountability and security-sector
\nreforms are essential for Kenya\u2019s long-term stability. <\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s
\ngovernment ignores these reforms at its peril, especially since the security
\ncrisis generated by al-Shabaab is not simply a spillover from Somalia. One of
\nthe shifts in al-Shabaab\u2019s strategy over the past few years has been
\nincreasingly to recruit and deploy Kenyans and to cultivate
\nKenyan affiliates, who may be responsible for some of the recent attacks,
\nincluding in Garissa. It\u2019s clear that some recruits are drawn from a range of
\nethnic and even religious backgrounds. <\/p>\n
Addressing
\nthe abuses, corruption and impunity which fuel radicalisation and al-Shabaab
\nrecruitment in Kenya should be a high priority in efforts to improve security. To
\nenforce security while protecting human rights is not contradictory. Far from
\nthe targeting of suspected terrorists or discrimination against entire
\ncommunities being legitimate, such violations simply alienate communities whose
\nsupport is desperately needed by the security forces if they are effectively to
\nprotect Kenya\u2019s population. The abuses have profound implications for all
\nKenyans, and ultimately put every Kenyan at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like us on Facebook<\/strong>\u00a0to follow the latest openSecurity articles, and tell the editors United in grief: a survivor of the attack (centre) rejoins her family at the Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi. Demotix \/ Reporter#34145. All rights reserved. If anyone doubted it before, the abominable attack on Kenya\u2019s Garissa University College on 2 April confirms the depth of Kenya\u2019s security crisis. At least 147 students, faculty members and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nwhat we should publish next<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"