The threat of terrorism is universal and Kenya has been a casualty. We have examples from the 1980 Norfolk Hotel bombing, 1998 United States embassy bombings, 2002 Kikambala Hotel bombing, 2013 Westgate Mall shooting, 2014 Mpeketoni attacks, 2015 Garissa attack and the 2019 Nairobi Dusitd2 complex attack.
Improvised explosive device attacks are on an upswing in the northeastern parts of Kenya, targeting security patrols on key routes along the porous Kenya-Somalia borders and inland netizens on transit.
The aftermath continues to cause deaths of innocent citizens, immeasurable social-economic setbacks to potential investors.
In and out of the region, the attacks have been associated with terror- groups.
Terrorism and violent extremism are mostly employed interchangeably, with the latter being regarded broader than terrorism.
Violent extremism to a larger extent is shaped by the activities of terrorists, which spread messages of hate violence, and religious, cultural and social intolerance.
Groups engaged in violent extremism often distort and exploit religious beliefs, ethnic differences and political ideologies to legitimise their actions and recruit and retain their followers.
Radicalisation is the process by which individuals adopt violent extremist ideologies that lead them to commit terrorist acts, or which are likely to render them more vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist organizations.
The majority of those falling prey to the above are the youths, heedless of religion, tribe or race.
It is cardinal to understand the push and pull into radicalisation and violent extremism as we address the provocations.
The catalysts are not static and often range from lack of access to justice, human rights violation, economic factors for financial gains, lack of land and political suppression.
Rights-based policing should not be conceived or construed in the narrow sense to only mean the protection of the criminal-process rights of suspects, defendants and convicts.
It should be construed more predominantly to include the right of nations, communities and victims to justice, restitution, safety and security.
Such a conception will reduce citizens’ alienation from criminal justice systems and their resort to instant self-help justice.
This is the same as the broadening of security from traditional state-centred security to the broader paradigm of human security.
The majority of victims that have ended up being radicalised and recruited into extremist groups have shown interest in surrendering and going back to normal community life.
The fear has been security, acceptance without victimisation and intimidation and economic sustainability for their livelihoods.
In combating this, state agencies and key players need to move away from a hard-based approach to accepting voluntary returnees.
It is the utmost obligation of state authorities, including police, to respect and protect the right to life.
The law enforcers should only use lethal force as a last resort.
The human-rights approach encourages social dialogue with the right to empower citizens, state and non-state actors and strengthening the capacity of duty bearers without causing collateral damages.
It focuses on participation, accountability, non-discrimination and equality, empowerment and legal structures in design for a win-win situation.
It is important to be cognizant that the primary duty of criminal justice agencies and officials is the protection of the rights of citizens and the promotion of community safety.
The current multi-sectoral efforts in preventing and countering radicalisation and violent extremism concerning human rights by the office of Director Public Prosecutions, National Counter-Terrorism Center and Haki Africa are commendable and deserve full support.
Their approach emphasises on inclusivity of public participation, civil societies and government agencies for a seamless and soft-approach to ensure access to justice, adherence to human rights procedures and social security for actors.
This has yielded a reduction of close to 60 per cent in human rights abuses and violations by police in the recent past.
Founder Integrated Development Network
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
