Lawmakers Should Reject Amendments
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Kenyan lawmakers should reject far-reaching new security amendments that would add new criminal offenses with harsh penalties, limit the rights of arrested and accused people, and restrict freedoms of expression and assembly, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today.
On December 11, 2014, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Administration sent to the parliament the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The bill contains a wide array of amendments to 21 laws and could be adopted by parliament in the coming days.
“The hastily offered security bill infringes on many basic rights and freedoms protected in Kenya’s constitution and international human rights law,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities need to focus on how Kenyan security agencies have long violated human rights with impunity, and not empower these forces further.”
The proposals follow two attacks on civilians in Mandera county, which borders Somalia, for which the militant Islamist Somali-based group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. On November 21, attackers stopped a Nairobi-bound bus and killed 28 passengers who could not recite an Islamic creed. On December 1, Al-Shabaab fighters raided a quarry in Mandera and killed 36 people, again apparently discriminating among people there on the basis of religion.
Kenya’s security forces have been long criticized for their violations of human rights. The Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), in particular, has been linked to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the context of counter-terrorism operations and operations aimed at Al-Shabaab.
On December 8, Al Jazeera aired a report in which anonymous members of the ATPU were interviewed saying they had participated in the extrajudicial killing and forced disappearance of suspects. Kenyan authorities have not evidently investigated these allegations or made any serious efforts to hold those responsible to account.
Kenya has faced increased attacks targeting civilians since October 2011, when its troops entered Somalia in the context of military operations against Al-Shabaab. The response of the Kenyan security forces to these attacks has been to conduct operations that have resulted in numerous human rights violations in Nairobi, on the coast, and in the North Eastern province bordering Somalia.
Meanwhile, authorities overseeing police and security have stalled in carrying out reforms to improve oversight and accountability for abuses, which the government promised in 2010, following the adoption of a new constitution.
The police vetting process was stopped in July following a series of Al-Shabaab attacks in Lamu and Tana River. The government of President Uhuru Kenyatta has also passed laws this year that weaken accountability and oversight mechanisms such as the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
Human rights organizations, including the constitutional Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, opposition party lawmakers, and the IPOA have objected to the hasty way the bill was introduced. Supporters have sought an exception to standard procedures to accelerate the bill’s passage.
Kenya’s constitution requires a referendum before any new law that limits rights protected under chapter four of the constitution can be adopted. But no referendum was proposed for this bill. The bill was offered for parliamentary debate within hours, leaving no time for public scrutiny and comment. The bill’s amendments have also been described as “minor,” which exempts it from lengthy procedures and scrutiny that would have been required had it been introduced as a substantive bill.
“The cumulative effect of the amendments could return Kenya to the police state of the 1980s and 90s, and nullify recent progress on protecting human rights,” said Muthoni Wanyeki, regional director for East Africa, the Horn, and the Great Lakes at Amnesty International. “Parliament needs to reject these amendments, stand behind Kenya’s constitution, and pass measures aimed at making police and the military more effective and accountable.”