THE government has set up a security team to probe the alleged forcible disappearance of 200 youth linked to terrorist groups in the Coast and Northeastern regions.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has directed the team to probe the alleged extrajudicial killings of terror suspects.
“We want to get to the bottom of this allegation. It’s the cardinal responsibility of the security organs to protect Kenyans and not to make them disappear. We must find out the truth,” said Nkaissery.
Speaking after meeting security chiefs in Mombasa at the weekend, Nkaissery said the team will investigate and establish whether the youth who went missing were recruited into terror networks.
“We don’t know if they have crossed the border or they are somewhere else. We are still working on the whereabouts and will inform Kenyans on progress,” said Nkaissery.
Relatives and human rights activists have lamented that scores of terror suspects have been executed by the police.
They claim the youth are picked up by people in unmarked cars, believed to be police officers, and they cannot subsequently be traced, until some of them are found dead.
At least nine families have reported their sons missing at Makupa and Central police stations. They claim their sons were blindfolded and handcuffed by security officers.
Intelligence reports indicate that some youths in Somalia have been hoodwinking their relatives that they had been kidnapped by the police inside Kenya.
Mombasa county commissioner Nelson Marwa has reported that over 200 youth alleged to have links to al Shabaab cannot be traced.
Marwa said the youth were arrested when police raided the Minaa, Swafaa, Musa and Sakina mosques in September 2014 in an anti-terrorism crackdown.
Meanwhile, Nkaissery has extended an amnesty to radical youth who joined the Somalia-based militant group al Shabaab.
Nkaissery, who did not indicate the amnesty’s duration, instructed the security agencies not to harass any youth willing to denounce the militant group, which has waged a series of attacks inside Kenya.
“They should be given a warm reception, debriefed and rehabilitated before being allowed to integrate into the community. They will be treated in a dignified manner,” said Nkaissery.
He said a substantial number of al Shabaab returnees have surrendered since the government announced the amnesty in April, after the Garissa University attack that claimed 148 lives.
He said the youth who joined the terror group for training and wish to disassociate themselves with terrorism should report to government offices.
Nkaissery challenged the judiciary to help in the war on terrorism and radicalisation.