OPINION: How long list of Africans imprisoned in US jails raises questions about due process violations

The long list of Africans imprisoned in US jails raises questions about due process violations. Baktash Akasha, Kevin Kang'ethe, Erick Wanjiku and Sylvester Owino are a long list of Africans imprisoned in US jails, with many questions arising about the respect of their due process rights. Kenyan, African, US and international law dictates that the due process rights of suspects and detainees be protected. Yet the manner of arrest, timing, negation of appeals process and lack of transparency in the manner and treatment of these suspects and detainees, suggests a miscarriage of their due process rights.

Take the case of Baktash Akasha. The Kenyan government truncated the due process rights of the accused by fast-tracking his deportation to the US to face prosecution, in spite of an appeal filed in a Kenyan court challenging his extradition to the US. This followed an arrest warrant from Washington. While Baktash was far from a saint, indeed there is evidence he dabbled deeply in the drug dealing business, he was still innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a Kenyan court of law where he committed these crimes. In addition to this, the burden of proof on the prosecution would have been high given the gravity of the crimes he is alleged to have committed.

In the case of Kevin Kang'ethe, another African of Kenyan origin, who was accused of murdering his girlfriend Maggie Mbitu in Boston, Massachusetts, it is not clear how he miraculously escaped from a well-guarded Kenya police prison to again be captured in record time for deportation to the US. In addition to this, the lack of transparency around his deportation and his ability to defend himself from the first degree murder charges he faces in Boston, raises serious questions about whether his due process rights will be respected or whether he will get a fair trial given the volume of media scrutiny on this case in Kenya and the US. It is also unclear how he was tracked down for transfer to the US without first facing trial for the felony of escape from prison in Kenya.

In the case of Erick Wanjiku, who was moved from an Oklahoma immigration facility while facing deportation proceedings in the US, the manner of his transfer from the Oklahoma immigration facility raises questions about the high chance of abuse of his due process rights. Public interest litigation has exposed the abuse of the due process rights of detained immigrants at the hands of US immigration authorities over the years. Erick Wanjiku is also on record for “biting” an immigration officer in his effort to resist arrest. This behavior borders on the insane and maybe a psychiatric ward is a more suitable space for Erick where he can get mental health care. He clearly exhibits mental disease or defect. Incarceration with the inevitable deportation back to Kenya where his access to mental health care will be limited is far from just.

A similar case involving Sylvester Owino, who is still languishing in removal proceedings, is in progress to this day. His class action suit in the US 9th Circuit, arose from detainees suing CoreCivic – a for-profit corporation – for abuse of their fundamental rights and numerous due process violations that moved Sylvester from one immigration detention facility to another over many years. State and local jails in the US have the perverse incentive of detaining migrants, because they rent prison space in state and county facilities to the federal government. This is despite the fact Sylvester has an American wife and child. US immigration detention facilities also have a long history of capricious and inhumane conditions. It is very likely Sylvester suffered gross violation of his due process rights.

In all the Baktash, Kang’ethe, Wanjiku and Owino cases, the Kenyan government did little to provide legal counsel for them. This is despite them being Kenyan citizens, protected by the African Charter on Peoples' and Human Rights (ACHP) with due process rights in Kenya, Africa and the US. This is a matter that requires immediate attention, otherwise the long list of Africans imprisoned in US jails and denied their due process will continue to rise.

[Professor David Monda teaches political science and foreign policy at City University of New York @dmonda1, davidmonda.com]