Mike Mwaniki
5 April 2008
Nairobi — Three lobby groups on Friday accused the military and the rebel Sabaot Land Defence Force of engaging in killings, torture and rape of civilians in Mount Elgon.
In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch, Mwatikho and Western Kenya Human Rights Watch said evidence gathered since 2006 revealed that the Sabaot militia had killed more than 600 people and terrorising the local population through physical assaults and threats, including the seizure and destruction of property.
"At the same time, the Kenyan army, which was deployed last month to quell the insurgency, was pursuing a strategy of rounding up all the adult males in the district.
"However, further investigation is required to establish precise numbers but preliminary estimates by the human rights organisations suggest that the military has detained thousands, tortured hundreds, and unlawfully killed dozens of people," .
On Wednesday, Mr Musa Olokit, 31, claimed he was tortured by the military during the operation. His body bears scars, which he claims were inflicted by the military.
But in a swift rejoinder, the military said its personnel were well-trained and experienced and would not be involved in torture.
On Friday, Human Rights Watch, Africa director, Georgette Gagnon said: "The people of Mt Elgon are being doubly victimised, first by the rebel militia and now by the army ...
"The Sabaot Land Defence Force has committed hideous crimes and people welcomed the army at first. But now the soldiers are abusing those they are supposed to protect."
Mass detentions
According to the statement, during recent investigations in the area, HRW documented killings, torture and rape of civilians by members of the Sabaot force and the Kenyan army, including mass detentions by Kenyan military forces.
HRW interviewed more than 100 victims and eyewitnesses, as well as members of the police force and army, Government officials, journalists and humanitarian workers.
The organisation spoke to several women who described how SLDF troops broke into their homes, kidnapped their husbands at gunpoint and told the women, "You won't see your man again."
Many of them have not. One woman learnt about the fate of her husband when a man she knows to be a member of the SLDF gave her a pile of the clothes he was wearing when he was abducted and simply said, "Sorry."
According to the statement, HRW also interviewed victims of Kenyan military abuses.
Several witnesses who were beaten at Kapkota military base told the organisation in separate interviews that they saw people beaten to death there.
Said one of the witness: "The soldiers were holding (the prisoners') legs apart and smashing their private parts with a club. Some were falling unconscious, some died. I saw two corpses."
A resident of Kaptaboi village interviewed by HRW said he saw a military helicopter dropping off bodies on April 2.
"We ran away from Kaptaboi where the military were conducting operations. We ran to the forest. There we stumbled upon other soldiers. I was about 10 metres away, a helicopter landed and four soldiers dragged four bodies out of the helicopter and then threw them in the bush. Then they left, very fast," he said.
In their statement, HRW, Mwatikho and WKHRW called on leaders of the SLDF and the Kenyan army to immediately end these abuses, which are serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and issue clear public orders to protect civilians.
Serious crimes
The Government should also investigate serious crimes, leading to the prosecution of those responsible, in particular the principal organisers.
"The Kenyan army should stop denying claims of torture in Mt Elgon and instead investigate and prosecute those responsible for the crimes," said Mr Taiga Wanyanja, director of Mwatikho, an organisation that supports victims of torture.
Mt Elgon District Commissioner Birik Mohammed told HRW that the military operation is going on "as planned", and that he had received no complaints of torture.
According to the statement, Mr Mohammed's comments came as people queued outside his office to complain about torture.
The DC said there were more than 1,000 suspected SLDF members in jails and police cells.
This number does not include the thousands who have been detained in Kapkota and have been released, many of whom have alleged they were tortured.
The three human rights organisations called on the Government to ensure that aid workers, media and human rights investigators have access to civilians in the area.
"The Government should allow medical personnel immediate access to detainees in prisons and military bases, where hundreds of people have been tortured, some of whom require urgent medical attention.
"Both the SLDF and Kenyan military should also ensure that aid workers have access to detainees and people displaced by the conflict," said Mr Job Bwonya, executive director of WKHRW.
Key international partners including the European Union, the United States, the United Nations and the African Union should urge the Government and the SLDF to stop extra-judicial killings, torture, rape and arbitrary arrest and detention, the three human rights organisations said.
Mass graves
In the statement, the WKHRW says it has documented 613 people killed by the SLDF since 2006, the vast majority of them civilians.
According to WKHRW research, the rebel militia also abducted 118 and maimed 33 people.
There have also been numerous media accounts of prominent politicians, chiefs and others supposedly executed in broad daylight by the SLDF.
A February 2008 police operation uncovered mass graves in the Mt Elgon forest, apparently victims of the SLDF.
A man who says he was abducted by the SLDF and tortured at one of their bases in the forest witnessed five corpses lying around the torture site.
One chief in Mt Elgon District described how bodies of five people opposed to the SLDF were dumped in his area one morning with their throats cut.
Some were beaten in their homes and had their ears cut off. The signature maiming of the SLDF is to cut off the ears of those who do not obey their orders or do as they wish.
Many of the young men were maimed in 2007 because they refused to join the SLDF or they supported political parties opposed to SLDF candidates.
HRW interviewed numerous people who had had their ears cut off by the SLDF and women who were beaten by members of the SLDF searching for their husbands. One man described how the SLDF beat his wife while naked in front of him as a warning to him not to stand for the ruling PNU party in elections.
He was later abducted, along with others, and saw male prisoners being forced to have sex with each other.
According to the statement, male and female residents told HRW that rape of men and women by members of the SLDF was routine during the last two years.
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