On Thursday, October 28, renowned advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a professor of law Hassan Nandwa, was forcefully disappeared by unknown persons in the streets of Nairobi.
A few hours later, police officers from the anti-terror unit raided his home on Ngong Road, Nairobi, where his family was waiting for him. It is at that point that the family confirmed all was not well and that their father is not late from work on normal reasons. He had been forcefully disappeared by persons believed to be state security agents.
A frantic search for the professor was launched. HAKI Africa, the leading human rights organization in the country working to end enforced disappearances, visited the home of the professor and gathered information necessary to aide in his search.
Besides lodging complaints with local authorities, HAKI Africa also reported the disappearance with the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances.
The Law Society of Kenya and the Muslim leadership in the country equally condemned the disappearance and demanded his safe release. It was shocking to many that a lawyer, especially one of such high repute, could be treated in this manner in a country that has a justice system.
As for the family, they were bold in the search of their father. They visited various police stations and security offices all over Nairobi but to no avail. The good professor was nowhere to be seen.
The bone of contention that led to his disappearance is believed to be his representation of a terror suspect in court. By standing before court on the case, not only was Professor Nandwa doing his legal work but was also enforcing a constitutional right of his client.
Article 50 (2) (g) of the Constitution provides that “every accused person has the right to a fair trial, which includes the right to choose and be represented, by an advocate, and to be informed of this right promptly”.
So, how then is one disappeared for applying the Constitution?
Although the Kenyan law has not legislation on enforced disappearances, under international law, enforced disappearance is defined as “…the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.”
It is evident that the act to forcefully disappear, torture and threaten Professor Nandwa is open intimidation of the legal fraternity and human rights defenders in the country.
Those behind his abduction are fully aware that Nandwa committed no crime by doing his job. Even if he had committed a wrong, the proper procedure is to follow the law, arrest and charge him in court. Circumventing the law and using extralegal means is a clear show of lack of ideas by the intelligence officers and impunity of the highest order.
Following this week’s protest and purple campaign by LSK and human rights organisations, one thing is clear: That no amount of intimidation will work.
While the country awaits to understand the health and wellness status of Prof Nandwa, lawyers and human rights defenders will remain unmoved and unshaken. They will continue to work with his family in search of justice and ensure those responsible for the days of torment he and his family underwent are held to account for their crime of enforced disappearance.
As a country, we must never allow ourselves to be drowned in human rights violations and abuses at any cost. Security authorities must learn that respect for human rights is an integral part of advancing security.
As one of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, once said..."Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security, will deserve neither and lose both".