32 days of torture in abduction chambers; the Longton brothers' ordeal

Two brothers from Kitengela were amongst those who were abducted and held for long periods of time in what they can only describe as torture chambers. 

Jamil Longton and Aslam Longton share the ordeal of the torture they were subjected to for thirty two days.

The Longton brothers’ accounts of torture mirror narrations of prisoners who after the liberation of Syria from Bashar al-Assad recounted horror and harrowing stories of Sednaya Prison where prisoners were subjected to similar punishment. 

“The rooms had been built with very thick card boxes,” Asmal recalls. 

Jimal and Aslam Longton were abducted right outside their gate in Kitengela in the aftermath of intense demonstrations witnessed in Kitengela on August 8, 2024. 

They were locked up for 32 days of sheer torture and terror. 

Three months after their release, they desire to get a good night sleep, but the physical and psychological scars are still tangible.

The physical torture began as soon as they entered the torture chambers as the two were stripped naked, cuffed to the ground before being subjected to physical abuse. 

“There was one short and heavily built person who came with a fibre cable and curtain rod that he used to beat me,” Jimal recalls. 

On their release, Jimal and Aslam were visibly emaciated as the food rations were deliberately reduced.

“We were given ugali, cabbage and 300mls of water. The water was to wash hands before and after eating, and to drink. We had a five litre bottle that was cut at the top, it served as our toilet.”

In that isolation, they almost lost count of the days save from listening to the TV in another part of the torture chambers. 

The brothers have been free for months now, but the impact of that period of abduction is still with them, they are struggling to even earn a living on account of their ruined reputation. 

But those challenges notwithstanding, Aslam says he will not stop speaking against the ills that took him to the streets in the first place.

“We are not afraid of saying the truth. They said they will kill us if we speak to the media. Only God knows our days,” Asmal says. 

Their story confirming the existence of a system similar to the Nyayo House torture chambers during the late former President Daniel arap Moi's rule. All these happening in present day Kenya.

“Everyone who opened the door of that room had to beat me up and asked me the same questions,” Asmal recalls.