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POLITICS-KENYA: Activists Voice Concern Over Anti-Terror Bill
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI, Nov 29, 2003 (IPS) - Concerns about a proposed anti-terrorism law in Kenya were set to reach boiling point Saturday, with a gathering of human rights activists in the capital.
The activists belong to more than 40 human rights organisations that have formed an umbrella body called the Kenya Human Rights Network (K-HURINET), to sound an alarm about the Suppression of Terrorism Bill.
Parliament is currently examining the proposed law, which was published in April this year. During the past five years, Kenya has been the victim of two terrorist attacks - including the 1998 bomb blast that targeted the United States' embassy in Nairobi.
The U.S. embassy in Tanzania was attacked simultaneously. More than 250 people were killed in the blasts, and over 5,000 injured.
The second incident, in Nov. last year, involved a suicide bomb attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in the coastal town of Mombasa. Sixteen people died in the blast, which coincided with a failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner that was leaving Mombasa airport.
These attacks have not ensured an easy passage for the new anti-terror bill. Activists say the proposed law is flawed, as it gives officials the power to detain suspects without trial - and confiscate their assets.
Human rights workers claim the law would also enable terror suspects to be extradited to other countries without the legal safeguards that normally apply in these situations.
A spokesman for K-HURINET, Wangui Mbatia, says "The Suppression of Terrorism Bill does little to suppress terrorism. Instead it suppresses our rights."
"This will kill the democratic process introduced in the country," she added.
James Waititu of the Litigation Fund Against Torture says, "The Bill implies that once a person has been labelled a 'terrorist', there is nothing they can do to erase such a declaration. This.leaves Kenyans at the mercy of one minister who, under the bill, is empowered to decide one's fate."
K-HURINET fears that Kenya may have been pushed into formulating the law because of pressure from the U.S. to join Washington in the so-called "war on terror".
The bill has also prompted concerns amongst Kenya's minority Muslim community.
"For instance, clause one of Article 12 of the bill suggests that a person will be suspected of being a terrorist simply by wearing clothing similar to that worn by known 'terrorists' associated with al-Qaeda," remarks Abdulrahman Andati, Executive Director of the Muslim Consultative Council.
Members of the Muslim community have joined activists in street protests to demand that the bill be scrapped. And, they have succeeded in attracting the support of Muslims in government posts.
Earlier this month, cabinet minister Najib Balala announced that he would oppose the bill, which he said could oppress Muslims.
However, government officials say that Kenya's legislation, as it currently stands, does not have sufficient measures in place to deal with terrorism.
"It (the bill) is there to address terrorism as an offence, because available statutes do not have anything describing terrorism," says Douglas Kaunda, spokesman for the Ministry of National Security, adding: "There must be a law to act as a deterrent against perpetrators."
"The bill addresses those who finance terrorism, those who carry it out, and those who support it," says Kaunda. "It under no circumstances seeks to deny Kenyans their rights and liberties."
The bill is currently before the country's Departmental Committee on National Security. Efforts by IPS to get comment from the committee were fruitless, but a source close to the group said there was pressure to have the bill passed before Dec. 11.
If Kenya adopts the proposed law, it will be following in the footsteps of its East African neighbours, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Tanzania, the Prevention of Terrorism Act was approved recently, despite criticism from the country's Muslim community - which claimed that it targets their religious freedom.
The Anti-Terrorism Act passed in Uganda has also come under fire. Activists allege that it is being used against political dissidents, and as a tool to curb freedom of speech.
Radio stations in Uganda have reportedly been warned against airing interviews with exiled opposition leader Kizza Besigye, on the grounds that these interviews would be illegal under the act. (END)
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