Insult to injury : the 2014 Lamu and Tana River attacks and Kenya's abusive response / [written by Otsieno Namwaya and Roland Ebole].

"June 2015"--Table of contents page.

"This report was jointly researched and written by Otsieno Namwaya, researcher at Human Rights Watch's Africa division and Roland Ebole, a program advisor at the Kenya Human Rights Commission"--Page 47.

Includes bibliographical references.

Map of Kenya and Coast Region -- Summary -- Recommendations -- Methodology -- I. Background -- II. Attacks in Lamu and Tana River Counties -- III. Government Response -- IV. Security Operations in Tana River and Lamu Counties -- Acknowledgements -- Annex: Letter to Kenyan Security Forces.

"During five weeks between mid-June through July 2014, armed gunmen who in most cases claimed to be part of the Somalia-based armed Islamist group Al-Shabaab, attacked a passenger bus and at least eight villages in the Kenyan coastal counties of Lamu and Tana River. The attackers killed 87 people including four security officers and destroyed approximately 30 buildings and 50 vehicles. Kenyan security forces were slow to respond to the attacks, leaving villages unprotected and when they eventually responded, their actions were often discriminatory, beating, arbitrarily detaining and stealing personal property of Muslim and ethnic Somali communities in the two counties. Based on joint research by Human Rights Watch and Kenya Human Rights Commission, Insult to Injury documents both the initial attacks by Al-Shabaab and the Kenyan government's response, including the abusive operations by the security forces in the aftermath of the attacks. Contradictory public statements made about the attacks may have impeded or undermined effective criminal investigations. One year on, Kenyan authorities have yet to credibly investigate the attacks or subsequent security force abuses described in this report, while Kenyan security forces continue to conduct abusive operations in response to Al-Shabaab attacks. The government should take urgent steps to ensure its response protects human rights and the rule of law, including by holding abusive security personnel to account, and a firm commitment to security sector reforms. These steps can help build the confidence ofvictims and others in the communities most affected bythese attacks that the government is able to offer them protection against possible future attacks and bring perpetrators of abuses to justice"--Publisher's description.