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Bashir Makhtal's family say he is a business man, not an Islamic Courts fighter |
Al Jazeera
Friday, February 16, 2007
More than 50 people have been arrested in Kenya, near the Somali border and deported without court hearings, Mohammed Adow, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Nairobi, has reported.
Bashir Makhtal, a Canadian citizen, and his wife's uncle were among those arrested last month and sent back to
The family said the two men had fled the fighting in
"The Kenyan authorities wrongfully deported him. I don't know whether he is still alive and well. My plea is that he be returned safely to me."
The Kenyan authorities said her husband was with about 100 Union of Islamic Courts fighters and their families who tried to illegally cross the frontier.
Forced returned
Adow said: "So far, half of these people, including women and children, have been forced back to
Within days of the arrests, lawyers turned up at the
More than 50 people were put on a plane and flown out of
Speaking about the status of the Somalis as refugees, Alfred Mutua, a
"If you go to
"And
International law
One of the lawyers for the deportees, Harun Ndubi, strongly disagrees.
Ndubi said: "The international refugee law, the Geneva convention, has been broken by Kenya. The international human rights law has been broken.
"There is international customer law that has been broken also by the Kenya government taking people ... who are likely to be executed, taking them back, without the judicial process which they are entitled [to] wherever in the world they are."
Aziza Osman, left, said she had not heard from
her husband since he was deported
Kenyan Muslims often feel victimised by what the government says is a campaign against terrorism, Adow said.
Aziza and her mother said they have heard no word from their loved ones since their deportation.
They join a lengthening list of people angry and frustrated with their government's actions.
Source: Al Jazeera, Feb 16, 2007