Terrorist Amnesty, Reintegration, & Perceptions of Counter Violence Extremism Among Police Officers in Kenya; An Assessment

• In Event: Evidence-Based Policing in an International Context

Abstract

Focused deterrence technique seeks to maximize the effect of deterrence theory by directly tailoring the message to offenders and ensuring punishment certainty. Thus, this study explores pertinent aspects of Kenya's Counter violence extremism activities, specifically a newly created Al-Shabaab Amnesty and Reintegration Program (AART). This is a novel strategy that was announced by the Kenyan Government and offers radicalized youth amnesty on the condition that they surrender to the security officials in exchange of training and social services to assist them in desisting from terrorist activity. This is a radical departure from Kenya’s National Police Service policy, as the agency has traditionally addressed violent extremism in a very heavy handed, militaristic manner.
This is a process evaluation of the program to understand agency related factors that led to its creation as well as police officer perceptions regarding its intended effect and the appropriateness of offering amnesty to radicalized youth. The study involves content analysis of the amnesty-related documents and in-depth surveys of 260 senior Kenya Police Commanders. Findings are reported both qualitatively and quantitatively. This dissertation may contribute to literature, and guide practitioners as amnesty-driven approaches are yet to be implemented as a terrorism-prevention strategy on a widespread basis.

Author

• Resila Atieno Onyango, The Graduate Center, John Jay College / CUNY