Kenya launches probe into alleged abuses by British troops stationed in-country

Kenya has initiated a probe into alleged rights violations and offenses against civilians committed by British troops based in the country’s central region, with torture, unlawful detention and killings being among the abuses being investigated.

Kenya’s parliament announced last week it would hold four public hearings into alleged abuses by British troops stationed in the former colony. While the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) provides economic opportunities for many residents in the central town of Nanyuki, where it maintains a permanent base, soldiers stationed there have also been accused of committing offenses, including torture, unlawful detention, and killings. In the most high-profile case dating back to 2012, the body of a 21-year-old Kenyan mother was discovered in a septic tank in Nanyuki. A British soldier has been accused of her killing.

Her family filed a lawsuit in Kenya but progress has been sluggish, with hearings repeatedly postponed. Nairobi and London have disagreed over the question of jurisdiction for British soldiers who break Kenyan law, with the UK government saying that it did not accept the jurisdiction of the Kenyan courts. On Wednesday May 29, British High Commissioner to Kenya, Neil Wigan, reportedly met the murdered woman’s family, who have long demanded justice over her killing. After gaining independence from the UK in 1963, Kenya has maintained close ties with its former colonial master, including a defense agreement allowing for several thousand British troops a year to conduct joint exercises with Kenyan troops in the East African country.