KENYA: Deportation Protest Leads to Widespread Arrests

By Susan Anyangu-Amu Reprint | | Print |

NAIROBI, Jan 19 2010 (IPS) - Organisers of a protest march against the expulsion of Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah El Faisal say Kenyan police have arrested up to 400 people and are interrogating them to prove their nationality and try to uncover links to terrorism.

A Jan. 16 march protesting efforts to deport El Faisal ended in violent confrontation in Nairobi’s central business district. Police say property worth more than 150,000 U.S. dollars was damaged in violence that left six officers injured and two Muslim youths dead.

Members of the public, mainly traders from shops being damaged in the clash, joined police and hurled stones at the demonstrators.

Kenyan security forces in full combat gear responded soon afterwards with aggressive raids in the predominantly Somali neighbourhood of Eastleigh – commonly known as “Little Mogadishu” – seeking undocumented migrants along with anyone suspected of links with Somalia’s Al-Shabaab group, which is fighting to overthrow the government in Kenya’s northern neighbour.

As many as 16 members of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government were among those detained.

“For the last two days, police have raided residential areas where most Muslims reside,” says Farouk Machanje, who was one of those who organised the march.”They have carried out raids in Kibera and Eastleigh areas, and indications are similar swoops are being carried out in Mombasa in the Coast province.”

Machanje is an officer of the Muslim Human Rights Forum (MHRF), a group working to defend people detained unlawfully in connection with the U.S.-led “war on terror”.

The police response has drawn the attention of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) which issued a statement strongly condemning the raids, terming them an attempt by police to intimidate members of a certain faith.

“Muslims everywhere in this country are angry. While we appreciate the fact that the country must keep its borders safe and control influx of illegal immigrants, what is happening is an undesirable attempt at instilling fear among a group of people,” says Hassan Omar Hassan, a commissioner with KNCHR.

Hassan argues police had no reason to stop demonstrators who were within their legal rights to protest. Kenya’s immigration ministry claims El Faisal, who is on an international travel watch list, should not have been allowed into the country. Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ says he must leave Kenya because of his UK conviction and jail term.

But Machanje contends that El Faisal has not committed any offence in Kenya, nor is he a wanted criminal and thus his deportation is unwarranted. The Forum filed suit at the High Court to block the expulsion, and secured a stop order against the deportation.

Omar says the police action is evidence of a calculated strategy to attack Somalis and Kenyan Somalis.

“For a long time the police have been complacent in curbing the influx of illegal immigrants. Suddenly they have created a public image of elements of Al-Shabaab and terror groups being in the country to elicit public sympathy. This is an archaic strategy that used to be employed by past regimes to instill fear and send shockwaves among the population to manipulate the feelings of Kenyans.”

When IPS visited Eastleigh two days after the police action, attempts to interview residents were met with weary looks and anger.

“When there is one spoilt mango in the sack, it does not mean all mangoes are bad,” said Mariam Ahmed, a Kenyan-Somali and resident of Eastleigh.

“Following Friday’s demonstrations all Muslims have suddenly become suspects and we are being subjected to midnight raids by security forces apparently in search of Al-Shabaab elements,” she said angrily.

“Our sons, who are Kenyan by birth and have a right to be in this country, are now being frog-marched in the middle of the night, being subjected to intimidation in a bid to prove their nationality. Just because they have Muslim names and happen to belong to the Kenyan-Somali tribe they are suspected of being Al-Shabaab. This is humiliating and it may actually prompt them to resort to the unthinkable,” says Ahmed.

For Machanje, the attempts to deport El Faisal are merely a pretext to continue harassing and discriminating against Muslims in Kenya. The country’s Muslim population has often faced suspicion in the past – following the 2002 bombing of the Paradise Hotel in Kikambala, a number of Muslims were detained for a long period despite an absence of proof of their involvement.

Kenyan Somalis routinely have difficulties obtaining national identification papers, forced to undergo strict and unusual background checks to prove they are not from neighbouring Somalia. During periodic crackdowns like the one under way presently, police have been known to deport people carrying valid Kenyan identification to Ethiopia or Somalia.

Support for the radical cleric is not universal among Muslims. One section of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims has distanced itself from the protest. Garissa branch chairman Abdullahi has attributed the demonstrations to a few hooligans, and appealed to Muslims not to participate in further demonstrations.

Machanje says despite intimidation, the MHRF will continue to demand just treatment for all Muslims.

Further public protest has been announced for Jan. 22 in the coastal city of Mombasa. With the minister for internal security, George Saitoti saying that intelligence reports connect foreign forces linked to Al Shabaab with the protests, the response from the government could be harsh.