Obama: Alienating communities only breeds radicalisation

US President Barack Obama delivers his speech during a joint news conference with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta after their meeting at the State House in Nairobi. (Photo: Reuters)

US President Barack Obama has called on the government to review its counter-terrorism tactics by working with local communities to combat terrorism instead of alienating them.

Speaking at State House Nairobi during a joint press briefing with President Uhuru Kenyatta, Obama said that the US has come to realise through hard experience that collective punishment of communities in the fight against terrorism does not yield results.

Instead, he said, that strategy only strengthens resentments and non-cooperation among the communities and increases the likelihood of terrorist recruitment and radicalisation.

"If you paint any community with too broad a brush, then that can have the effect of actually increasing the pool of recruits to terrorism and resentment in communities that feel marginalised,” he said.

He added: "I shared with President Kenyatta that part of the reason we haven't seen systematic terrorist networks and cells developing in many of our Muslim communities inside the US is that we have been very conscious to make sure that law enforcement is reaching out and cooperating with them because they are partners in this process."

Obama said that the only way to fight the poison that terrorists seek to feed young people, especially in social media, is to make sure that the communities are the eyes and ears of the government on the ground.

He said developing trust and engagements with communities that terrorists seek to recruit from ensures that a more effective counter-terrorism is in place.

“Our experience and best practices tell us that rule of law, respecting civil society particularly in those communities that may be targeted for recruitment by terrorists, becomes more important the more significant the threat is,” he said.

He added: "Not only is that practical advice but is the right thing to do and is consistent with the Kenyan constitution and the values that Kenyans espouse."

In response, President Kenyatta said that his government is willing to improve its counter-terrorism measures by learning from the experiences of other countries.

He said terrorism is a new phenomenon in Kenya and the government is still learning how best to respond to the threat.

"I am certain that as we move forward and learn from others, we will handle this situation in a manner that does not encourage this kind of activity on the basis of either marginalisation or people feeling that particular communities are being targeted in fighting terrorism, "he said.

He added: "We will continue to improve and strengthen our partnership with all communities in order to ultimately be able to defeat the terrorists."

Uhuru said that devolution of resources through county governments is expected to address the historical marginalisation of some parts of the country and make all communities feel part and parcel of the country.

Muslim communities in Kenya have lamented about indiscriminate counter-terrorism tactics such as mass arrests and detention, closure of mosques, extrajudicial killings and disappearances, saying they are only playing into the hands of the terrorists by enhancing resentment and undermining cooperation with government.