Human rights lobbies want the funds meant to support terrorism victims to be released to compensate and rehabilitate them.
International Justice Mission, Haki Africa and Amnesty International want summary killing, enforced disappearance and indiscriminate arrests not to be used as a counter-terrorism strategy.
They spoke on Tuesday during the launch of a guideline to help in the inter-agency collaboration in the fight against terrorism and terror financing in the country.
The event was organised by the DPP’s office at Prosecution Training Institute and officiated by Central Bank governor Patrick Njoroge.
The outfits say the fund anchored in the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be rolled out to help the victims lessen the pain.
IJM executive director Ben Shamalla said the guidelines though noble, will not attain much if the authorities' approach was high handed and trample on human rights like terrorists.
The lobbies criticised indiscriminate arrests, summary executions, enforced disappearance and torture in the guise of counter-terror operations.
According to Missing Voices, some 187 cases of alleged police killings and 36 cases of enforced disappearances were recorded last year.
Out of the 36 cases, four of the victims were later found dead while two were found alive and 30 are still missing to date.
Shamalla said most of the cases of enforced disappearances were a result of anti-terrorism operations.
They said such activities bred more rebellion and radical extremism rather than achieving the intended purpose.
“Law enforcement agencies must maintain the delicate balance between protecting the fundamental rights of citizens on one hand and the fight against terrorism on the other,” Shamalla said.
He said the enforcement of the guideline must uphold the suspect’s bill of rights or it risks radicalising more youths into the crime.
“Agencies, need to be innovative in fighting terrorists and consider the bill of rights. The Constitution sets a firm foundation for the respect and fulfilment of human rights,” the executive director said.
He said the country was obligated under international law to uphold respect for human rights in any effective counter-terrorism strategy.
Shamalla said there should, therefore, be no room for summary killings and enforced disappearances and any form of torture during anti-terrorism investigations.
The Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji said such conduct equates the security apparatus to the very terrorists they fight.
Haji said the framework being launched was critical as non-coordination and lack of sharing of information among agencies in the fight against terrorism was no longer tenable.
“The single-handed action of one actor in the counter-terrorism drive can no longer generate effective results,” the DPP said.
He was it was time for Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to enact the victims’ funds as demanded by the lobbies.
The DPP also said corruption and abuse of human rights was the greatest impediment to achieving effective counter-terrorism results in the country.
“Corruption and abuse of human rights or civil liberties will only serve to undermine these guidelines. The agencies must try as much as possible to observe the rule of law,” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
