Abductions: Muslim leaders seek answers

Muslim leaders have accused anti-terror police of abducting lawyer Hassan Nandwa, who has been missing since October 28.

The leaders also accused the government of violating Muslims’ rights and treating them like second-class citizens. 

The leaders from the three leading Muslim organisations demanded that the government immediately releases Prof Nandwa or present him in court to be charged with whatever crime he is suspected to have committed.

“The government should end this habit of perpetuating the practice of treating Muslims as second-class citizens. We’re not children of a lesser being. We’re part and parcel of this great nation,” said Hassan ole Naado, the national chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem).

There have been over 40 such cases of abductions in the last few months. Naado claimed only 10 of those abducted have been found.

“The so-called war on terror has unfortunately morphed into a war on Islam and Muslims,” said Naado in a press conference held in Nairobi yesterday. “We’re now witnessing a deliberate strategy of instilling fear among Muslims and discouraging them from going to mosques that are supposed to be sanctified places.”

Nandwa went missing at around 7pm on October 28, according to his family. At about 10.30pm the same night, armed men in police uniforms raided his home along Ngong Road in Nairobi, said the family.

“No family can handle this. I need to know where my father is,” said Nandwa’s son.

National Muslim Leaders Forum Chairman Abdullahi Abdi also accused the government of unfairly targeting Muslims in its war on terrorism.

“Muslims in Kenya are under siege. They’re a targeted community. Targeted by a gang of criminals who are well known to the authorities,” said Namlef.

He accused Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai of ignoring the abductions and their cry for help.

“Has Kenya turned into Mexico where there is a government within a government or is there the rule of law in this country?” Namlef posed, adding that Muslims live in constant fear. 

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has threatened to file a case to force security agencies to produce Nandwa in court.

“A threat to a lawyer in the line of duty is a threat to the rule of law, the Constitution of Kenya, and to humanity,” said Eric Theuri, the chairman of LSK’s Nairobi Branch.

“Advocates should not be forced to be selective in representing clients for fear of jeopardising their safety. These are actions that constitute a direct violation of the constitutional requirement of access to justice and impede the pursuit of justice.”

Naado said Muslims will petition the US government to invoke Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act that allows the US president to slap sanctions on foreigners committing human rights abuses.

“We demand the release of Nandwa and other abductees such as Mohamed Abubakar Said, a 22-year-old business management student at Umma University, and Yasir Mahmoud Ahmed, a 43-year-old ambulance driver from Lamu, who has been missing since June 19,” he said.

Nandwa is not the only Kenyan lawyer to have fallen victim to mysterious abductions and even killings.

Lawyer Ben Njau Kayai has been missing since February this year. 

“It’s a worrying phenomenon that the State, which is supposed to guard and protect the rights of its citizens, is now at the forefront of victimising its citizens,” said Naado.

Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan said citizens’ acceptance and respect for government authority are conditioned on its protection of “our lives, our properties, our wellbeing and our liberty.”

“In this particular case – when you pick up a well-respected citizen from the streets of our capital city and he disappears without any trace – it clearly shows the government is not doing its job,” said Hassan.

newsdesk@standardmedia.co.ke