Kenyan rights activist missing
2007-08-26 17:02
Nairobi - A Kenyan Muslim who lobbied against the rendition of prisoners with alleged terrorism links, has disappeared, a human rights group said on Saturday.
Farah Mohammed Abdullahi, 26, was last seen being escorted by three men into a vehicle from a mosque in Nairobi's Eastleigh district last Sunday, said Muslim Human Rights Forum (MHRF) chair Ali-Amin Kimathi.
"This fellow has been missing for one week and our efforts have not been unsuccessful," Kimathi told AFP. "Police are telling us nothing about him."
Farah was vocal in seeking the release of his younger brother, Abdi Mohammed Abdullahi, who was among some 152 people from at least 18 countries - including Britain, Canada, Sweden and the United States - arrested during the war between Somali Islamist and Ethiopian forces early this year.
Some of the 152 have been released, but so far, 18 Kenyans remain in Ethiopian prisons, while another, Abdul Malik, was taken to the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in March.
"We believe Farah was abducted because he was in contact with his brother, then telling the world about their conditions there," Kimathi said.
"We are fearing that he might end up in Ethiopia prisons like his brother...
"We believe he was abducted by the Kenyan anti-terrorism police unit, because the nature of his disappearance is typical with the operation of the unit."
According to human rights groups, most of people who were arrested during the Somali war ended up in Ethiopian jails, although Addis Ababa has confirmed detaining only 41 terrorism suspects.
- SAPA