RIGHTS-KENYA: Terror Bill Sparks Controversy

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Dec 11 2003 (IPS) - Rights groups in Kenya have criticised government’s decision to introduce anti-terror law to tackle terrorism.

The groups, which have come together under the Kenya Human Rights Network, Wednesday warned that the proposed Suppression of Terrorism (SOT) Bill 2003 was flawed and would infringe on rights of Kenyans.

Controversial aspects of the proposed law include the possibility of life imprisonment and extradition of suspects without normal legal safeguards. Apart from vesting powers in one minister to gauge terrorism, the Bill also empowers police to detain suspects incommunicado for unspecified period of time without trial and to confiscate their assets.

Rights groups say the proposed Bill has been imposed on Kenya by U.S. government as a result of two terror attacks witnessed by the country in the last five years.

“We feel strongly that we have been victims of terrorism, not because we do not have enough laws, but because we have been and remain vulnerable. In our opinion, any serious measure to combat terrorism must effectively deal with this vulnerability. The SOT Bill does not,” the group’s spokesperson, Wangui Mbatia, told IPS this week.

She said: “The country is vulnerable to acts of terror because there is no real security check on any of our borders. They are porous, allowing any foreigner to walk in and out. Only if we intensify security in our immigrations department, can we minimise terrorism”.

But the ministry of national security says there is enough security at border points.

The uproar by human rights groups followed Dec. 8 talks between Kenya’s foreign affairs minister Kalonzo Musyoka and U.S. ambassador William Bellamy. During the meeting, Musyoka mentioned that Kenya would soon pass into law the anti-terror bill, joining its East Africa counterparts, Uganda and Tanzania who recently approved theirs.

The meeting comes in the wake of alerts issued by a U.S. official over possible terrorist attacks in Nairobi, targeting American and Western interests in two five-star hotels: Hilton and New Stanley, as well as in three buildings located within the city.

Both Musyoka and Bellamy agreed that the Dec. 1-5 threat had negative implications on Kenya’s economy, especially the tourism industry, which is among top foreign currency earners.

Following the warning, the U.S. government immediately issued a travel advisory to Americans visiting the hotels and the buildings, thus crippling Kenya’s tourism industry, which is supposed to be enjoying high season.

The tourism industry is recovering from effects of a similar scare issued in May 2003 when the minister of national security, Chris Murungaru announced the presence of al Qaeda in Kenya.

Al Qaeda, an organisation led by fugitive Saudi national, Osama bin Laden, is believed to be behind the Sep. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

Following Murungaru’s announcement, the British government suspended all flights to Kenya and warned its citizens against travelling to the East African country. America joined the bandwagon and urged its nationals not to visit Kenya which, it alleged, had turned into a terrorist hub. Israeli airlines also cancelled their flights.

This crippled the tourism sector. In just ten days after the ban, Kenya had lost 13 million dollars in tourism earnings, according to the ministry of tourism and information.

As a result, tourism has moved from being Kenya’s first foreign currency earner to the third, after tea and coffee. This has been attributed to terror threats and scares.

Since then stakeholders have been fighting to ensure that the industry regains its status as the major player in the country’s economy. But last week’s terror alerts will further affect the industry, tour operators have warned.

“The industry is still suffering from consequences of previous threats and what happened last week will only help propagate it further,” Luke Ogono, Director of World Watch Travel, a renowned tour firm in Nairobi, told IPS.

The high tourism season, which falls between November and December, may not be realised this time as tourists may opt for other “safer” destinations, tour agencies fear.

“I think this season will not be as high as it has always been,” Kenya Tourism Federation chairperson, Jake Grieves-Cook, told IPS in an exclusive interview.

“The high season brings about 30-40 percent of the total number of tourists visiting the country every year,” he said.

Tour operators are expecting low earnings this season. “Around this time, we usually have around 500 clients, making about 130,666 dollars in profit, but following the threats, it is absolutely impossible to reach this target,” Ogono said.

Hoteliers also have started counting their losses. “Since our hotel was mentioned as a target of terror attacks, our bookings have slightly gone down,” says an official of Hilton Hotel, who declined to be named.

But Grieves-Cook expects the situation to improve soon. “All our tourists can be reassured that their safety and security is treated as a high priority by the authorities,” he said.

Tourism and information minister, Raphael Tuju has said that security has been beefed up in and around the capital, as well as in areas frequented by tourists.

“Kenya is still a safe destination to be in and to visit. All our systems are on high alert and ready to respond to any threat, real or imagined,” he said last week.

Tour operators have warned that any threat should not be taken lightly to avoid potential terror attacks similar to the one which happened in 1998 and 2000.

The 1998 attack, which targeted the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, killed about 250 people and injured over 5,000. The 2002 one involved a suicide bombing on an Israeli-owned hotel near Kenya’s Indian Ocean port town of Mombasa, killing 16 people. A failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner was carried out at about the same time.

Kenya earns more than 300 million dollars from tourism every year. And, according to figures from the Kenya Tourism Board, the East African country received more than 150,000 visitors over the first quarter of 2003 compared to 125,026 over the same period in 2002.