Country Reports on Terrorism 2014 - Kenya

Overview: Kenya is a member of the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism and a strong partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. Kenya faced a continuing terrorist threat from al-Shabaab, against which Kenya Defense Forces engaged in military operations in Somalia since 2011. Despite some successes, including the discovery of a large unexploded vehicle-born improvised explosive device in Mombasa, Kenya continued to face serious domestic security challenges, growing radicalization and violent extremism within its own borders, and a spike in al-Shabaab attacks in 2014. While no single incident drew the level of international attention garnered by the 2013 attack on Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall, more than two dozen terrorist incidents occurred throughout Kenya in 2014, resulting in more than 200 dead and many more injured – making 2014 the deadliest of the past four years. There were allegations of violations of human rights by Kenya's police against civilians during counterterrorism operations, including allegations of extra-judicial killings. There were also reports that highlighted a public perception of a bias against members of the Somali community.

Kenyan officials cooperated closely with the United States and other partner nations on counterterrorism issues – including investigating and prosecuting terrorism cases – and pledged deeper cooperation. Kenya is one of six countries participating in the President's Security Governance Initiative (SGI) announced at the U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit. SGI focuses on the management, oversight, and accountability of the security sector at the institutional level.

The Kenyan government focused increased attention on preventing the flow of foreign fighters, including Kenyan nationals, to join al-Shabaab in Somalia, as well as on Kenyan national foreign fighters returning from abroad.

2014 Terrorist Incidents: Of the two dozen terrorist attacks in Kenya in 2014, al-Shabaab publicly claimed responsibility for three major attacks.

• On June 15, armed attacks in the village of Mpeketoni in Lamu County left at least 48 people dead.

• On November 22, a bus hijacking in November in Mandera County in Northeast left 28 people dead.

• On December 2, an armed attack in December at a quarry also in Mandera County left 36 workers dead. While Kenya had seen deadly attacks in these counties near the Somali border before, the brutality of the Mandara County attacks in which non-Muslims – including women – were singled out for killing, was especially troubling and prompted some non-Muslims, particularly civil servants and teachers, to flee the areas.

Other notable deadly incidents included multiple explosions in March in Nairobi's Eastleigh neighborhood that left seven dead; bombings in May targeting buses and a hotel in Mombasa and Nairobi that left seven dead; bombings in May in Nairobi's Gikomba Market that left 12 dead; and a series of additional attacks in June and July in Lamu County and coastal Tana River County that left at least an additional 45 people dead.

The discovery in March of a powerful and sophisticated but unexploded vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in an impounded car at a Mombasa police station was also significant.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Kenya's 2012 Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2011 Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, and 2010 Prevention of Organized Crime Act together provide a strong legal framework under which to prosecute acts of terrorism. In December, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Security Laws (Amendment) Act 2014, a set of provisions that altered 20 existing laws in an effort to further strengthen further Kenya's legislative framework to fight terrorism. Positive steps included the criminalization of the receipt of terrorist training, creation of a coordinated border control agency, strengthening the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, and a relaxation of evidentiary standards to allow greater use of electronic evidence and recorded testimony. Other provisions, including those that affected freedom of speech and the rights of the accused and refugees, sparked controversy and garnered criticism that they violated constitutionally-guaranteed civil liberties and contravened Kenya's international obligations. In December, a Kenyan High Court judge suspended implementation of eight provisions of the Act and formed a three-judge panel to fully examine the Act's constitutionality. [In January 2015, the High Court temporarily suspended the implementation of eight provisions of the Act, determining that the provisions in question raised human rights concerns. In February, the High Court struck down the eight provisions on the grounds of unconstitutionality.]

During the year, the Kenyan judiciary demonstrated independence and competence, but remained hampered by a lack of key procedures to allow effective use of plea agreements, cooperation agreements, electronic evidence, and other undercover investigative tools.

In line with the security sector reorganization outlined in the 2013 Kenyan Constitution, the Government of Kenya divided counterterrorism functions among the three branches of the National Police Service – the Kenya Police (including the investigative Anti-Terrorism Police Unit and the paramilitary General Services Unit), the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, and the Administration Police – as well as non-police agencies such as the National Intelligence Service and elements of the Kenya Defense Forces. Operational effectiveness was impeded by poor interagency coordination among and within police, intelligence, and military forces; limited resources; insufficient training; endemic corruption; and an unclear command and control of, and politicization of, some terrorist incidents. In an effort to reverse this trend and improve operational effectiveness, the government made significant leadership changes.

Kenyan security and justice sector officials participated in a range of U.S. government-sponsored capacity-building programs funded and implemented by the U.S. Departments of State, DHS, DOJ, and DoD, in a range of areas including crisis response, investigations, and prosecutions. Notable among these was the Department of State's Antiterrorism Assistance program's East Africa Joint Operations exercise, a month-long crisis response training series – hosted in Kenya for Kenyan, Ugandan, and Tanzanian law enforcement personnel and first responders – that culminated in a large-scale simulation of a terrorist incident.

Border security remained a challenge for Kenya due to the country's vast, sparsely populated border regions and porous borders, as well as corruption. Kenyan officials emphasized the importance and challenges of border security in their initial discussions with U.S. counterparts in the context of the Security Governance Initiative. A lack of capacity on border security and inadequate systems of national identification hampered law enforcement's ability to identify and detain potential terrorists.

However, terrorist screening watch lists, biographic and biometric screening, and other measures were largely in place at major Kenyan ports of entry. Kenya continued its partnership with the United States to strengthen Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System border controls at major ports of entry, adding new ports of entry and upgrading systems nationwide.

The Kenyan government focused increased attention on preventing the flow of foreign fighters, including Kenyan nationals attempting to join al-Shabaab in Somalia, as well as Kenyan national foreign fighters returning from abroad.

Kenyan security services detected and deterred a number of terrorist plots during 2014, and responded to about two dozen significant terrorist incidents. Kenyan law enforcement, in large-scale security operations in April and May called "Usalama Watch," rounded up thousands of potential suspects, primarily in the Nairobi and Mombasa areas. However, the operations were widely criticized as fraught with abuse, corruption, and violations of civil liberties – including in a report of Kenya's own civilian oversight body, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.

Allegations of abuses, extra-judicial killings, and arbitrary detentions by Kenyan security services persisted in 2014. A July report by Kenya's civilian oversight body, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority. indicated that 332 Somalis had been deported to Mogadishu and outlined a range of violations by police of constitutional guarantees, including detention of suspects without arraignment before a court past the constitutional limit of 24 hours; extortion; and overcrowding in detention facilities. The report also included a set of time-bound recommendations, to which the government had not responded to by year's end.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority made progress in fulfilling its mandate by investigating multiple cases of police misconduct and referring these to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, two of which had already moved to the prosecution stage by year's end.

At the end of 2014, several major terrorism cases remained ongoing, including the trial of accomplices in the Westgate Shopping Mall attack and the case of the unexploded Mombasa VBIED.

Kenyan law enforcement agencies worked with regional organizations and the broader international community, including the United States, to increase its counterterrorism capacity and to secure land, sea, and air borders.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Kenya is a member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. Kenya made progress in implementing its anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism regime, and was removed from the FATF's continuing monitoring process in 2014 due to achieving the goals of its work plan. On December 16, the NGO Coordination Board de-registered 510 organizations for failure to provide required financial reporting and indicated it would deregister an additional 15 for suspected links to terrorist financing. The list of 510 was public and many of those groups were reinstated after filing the necessary paperwork. The list of 15 groups with suspected ties to terrorism has not been made public.

Kenya's Financial Reporting Center also continued to make progress in becoming fully operational, and continued to build its capacity to monitor the formal financial system and expand the number of reporting entities that it served. It remained hampered by a lack of essential resources, however, including an electronic reporting system for suspicious transactions. The Central Bank of Kenya took steps to encourage more people to use the formal financial sector to increase financial integrity by ensuring regulatory oversight.

For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Regional and International Cooperation: Kenya is a member of the AU, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the Community of Eastern and Southern Africa, and the East African Community. Kenya's primary contribution to regional counterterrorism efforts was its significant troop contribution to AMISOM since 2012. In 2014, Kenya hosted a head-of-state level meeting of the AU's Peace and Security Council focused on counterterrorism, as well as regional meetings of East African Community intelligence and police chiefs. In addition, Kenya hosted numerous trainings and the aforementioned crisis response exercise involving law enforcement professionals from neighboring countries to build counterterrorism capacities and increase regional cooperation.

Countering Radicalization to Violence and Violent Extremism: The Government of Kenya took some steps to increase engagement with civil society on issues of countering violent extremism, including participation by government officials along with religious and civil society leaders in the First National Conference on Security and Countering Violent Extremism in January, at which a Violent Extremism Advocacy and Accountability Charter was developed and adopted. The Kenyan government also developed, but had not implemented by year's end, a comprehensive National Counter-Radicalization Strategy. Senior leaders made some overtures to communities at risk of violent extremism, but also used divisive and inflammatory rhetoric, especially in the wake of terrorist incidents that further increased tensions. "Usalama Watch" and other heavy-handed security operations risked further alienating communities at risk of violent extremism. Some Kenyan civil society organizations actively worked to address the drivers of radicalization and violent extremism in Kenya, often with assistance from the United States and other international partners, without significant government involvement.