British troops accused of years-long Kenya abuse

Kenya's Parliament has accused British soldiers of decades of sexual abuse, killings, human rights violations and environmental destruction while training in the country. The report detailed harrowing testimony from communities in Laikipia and Samburu counties, near the military training bases. BBC News reports the British soldiers are accused of evading accountability by refusing to co-operate with the parliamentary investigation. The UK High Commission in Kenya said it regretted that its submission was not reflected in the report's conclusions and affirmed its readiness to investigate the allegations ‘under our jurisdiction fully, once evidence is provided’. For decades, troops from the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (Batuk) have been training in central Kenya but their presence has long attracted controversy, with soldiers accused of misconduct and rights abuses. More than 1 000 Kenyan soldiers receive British training each year, while thousands of UK troops are sent to Kenya for training exercises. In a 94-page report following a two-year inquiry, Kenya's parliamentary Committee on Defence, Intelligence & Foreign Relations accused Batuk of continued ethical breaches, rights violations and environmental negligence, as well as employment and labour concerns. The panel cited oral and written submissions from affected civilians, victims, community leaders, civil society organisations and public agencies. The report said that during the inquiry, host communities had complained of killings, assaults and maimings, including public fights and fatal traffic incidents, involving Batuk soldiers. The report said that Batuk was ‘increasingly seen as an occupying presence rather than a development partner, with affected residents drawing parallels to colonial injustices’.

|Among the worst cases was the 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was found in a hotel septic tank in the central garrison town of Nanyuki, nearly three months after she was alleged to have spent an evening with British soldiers, BBC News reports. The panel said the ‘pursuit of justice has been slow and fraught with frustration’. ‘It was submitted that the process of investigation has faced undue interference and obstruction, allegedly by Batuk personnel, which continues to hinder the delivery of justice,’ it added. A former British soldier accused of Wanjiru's murder was arrested last month after a warrant was issued in the UK and he now faces extradition to Kenya. He has denied the charge, and his lawyers said he intended to contest the extradition. Another case was the ‘unlawful killing’ of herder Tilam Leresh allegedly by a Batuk sergeant in 2012, ‘yet no arrest or prosecution has taken place in either Kenya or the UK’. The parliamentary panel found the existing defence co-operation agreement between Kenya and the UK was ‘structurally flawed’, saying the legal instrument has huge gaps. It noted that ‘the offence of murder, despite its gravity, is not explicitly listed… as an offence deemed outside the course of official duty’. This, it argued, created a ‘significant obstacle to justice,’ adding that the existing oversight mechanism was largely ineffective. The committee recommended the military agreement be amended to introduce a visiting forces code of conduct, zero-tolerance rules for gender-based violence, environmental obligations, and civilian oversight. It also called on the Kenyan Defence Ministry to negotiate with the UK Government on mechanisms to hold Batuk soldiers accountable for child support.