Outrage as KDF officers detain human rights team along Malindi-Lamu highway

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Six members of Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI), including five staff and a board member, were detained by Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers along the Malindi-Lamu highway, prompting condemnation from human rights organisations.

The incident occurred on Monday as the team travelled from Lamu to Mombasa after a field mission. The officers reportedly intercepted them between Gamba and Minjila, detained them for about two hours, then released them.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and MUHURI said the officers covered their faces and refused to identify themselves when the human rights team challenged them.

The five staff members were identified as Francis Auma, Abdulrahman Mwanga, Fredrick Okado, Lathan Yusuf and Mohamed Abdla, while the board member was identified as Khelef Khalifa.

In a joint statement, the two organisations said the officers' actions violated a High Court ruling by Justice Bahati Mwamuye requiring security personnel to wear clearly visible name tags or identifiable service numbers on their uniforms.

The ruling also prohibits security officers from wearing hoods, balaclavas or face masks to conceal their identities.

"We call on the KDF and other security agencies to comply with the court order. Officers who violate the directive should be held accountable and face legal consequences," the joint statement read in part.

The organisations also demanded immediate compliance with a recent court order lifting the dusk-to-dawn curfew that had been imposed for more than a decade along the Minjila-Lamu highway.

They argued that the curfew had created conditions for arbitrary stops, harassment and detention of travellers using the route, citing the detention of the MUHURI team as an example.

The organisations urged security agencies to respect court orders and protect the rights of travellers using the highway.

However, a senior Anti-Terror Police officer aware of the incident told The Standard that the officers from the Border Police Unit (BPU) manning such roadblocks and tactical borders conceal their faces to protect their identities.

"In high-risk areas prone to insurgent or terrorist retaliation, including Kanyoyo in Kitui heading to Garissa, Moyale and Lamu, anonymity is framed as a matter of personal and operational survival," she stated.