Terrible chapter reopened
Allegations of a series of rape crimes occurring over several decades are rocking the British military. Tamam Ahmed Jama reports from London
In a report published this month, Amnesty International said British soldiers posted in Kenya for training raped hundreds of Kenyan women. So far, at least 650 women have come forward with claims that they had been raped by British soldiers.
The earliest of the alleged rapes took place in 1965 and the most recent reported cases occurred as late as last year. Most of the cases involve gang rapes of tribeswomen in pastoral communities in central Kenya who were hunted down by soldiers in packs while they were grazing their animals or drawing water from wells in remote areas.
The soldiers would typically lie in wait in groups for the women and then gang rape them. Some of the women were children at the time the alleged rapes took place.
"[The rape victims] have suffered serious physical injuries and long-lasting psychological trauma as a result of being attacked," said the Amnesty International report. "Some women who were pregnant at the time miscarried immediately after being attacked. Others became pregnant as a result of being raped."
Martyn Day, a London-based British lawyer, whose firm conducted a verification mission in Kenya and is representing the victims, said at least 50 women gave birth to mixed- race children.
"Women who had been raped expressed enduring feelings of shame and humiliation following their ordeal," Amnesty International's report stated. "Some chose not to report it for fear of being stigmatised by their communities."
Women who reported the rapes or could not keep them secret -- either because they were in extreme distress after the attack or sustained serious injuries -- faced formidable difficulties in resuming their lives. Indignant and ashamed, many husbands of the rape victims abandoned their wives. The women who had already been through a terrible ordeal were cast out from their communities and left to fend for their unwanted children. Thus the alleged rapes left behind a trail of trauma, broken homes and shattered lives.
Not a single soldier was ever charged, let alone brought to justice in this terrible saga of sexual violence. The Kenyan system totally failed to protect its citizens, while the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence claimed to have first learnt about the allegations in November 2002. But Amnesty International's report said that there was strong evidence that UK Army officials had known about the rapes as early as 1977. The report said there were many instances -- in separate incidents in different times and locations -- where army officials were informed that UK Army personnel had raped women from the communities living in the vicinity of ranges used by the UK Army for training exercises.
"The army knew about what was happening but did absolutely nothing about it," said Day. "They chose to turn a blind eye."
Day said there is overwhelming documentary evidence, including complaints about the attacks by local chiefs, that the military knew about the rapes. Yet no action was ever taken.
"Amnesty International considers that so many rape claims by Kenyan women over such a long period of time indicate the existence of a pattern of grave human rights violations perpetrated by members of the UK Army," the report stated. "The failure to take effective action to investigate, prosecute alleged perpetrators and ensure reparation, fostered a climate of impunity for such violations and contributed to their widespread repetition." The report continued to suggest that such systematic failure to take action in the face of serious human rights violations amounted to tacit institutional consent on the part of the British Army.
Under international law, rape is defined as a form of torture, resulting in severe physical and mental pain and suffering. Among other international treaties aimed at the protection of the individual, the UK is a party to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As such, it is responsible under international law to prevent, investigate and prosecute acts of torture, including rape, and to ensure effective redress and adequate reparation to those who have been subjected to such crimes.
Amnesty International is calling on the British government to commission an independent public inquiry into the conduct UK Army personnel.
The victims' lawyer said a public inquiry is the best way forward to get to the bottom of how these atrocious crimes were kept in the dark and allowed to continue for so long.
"This is too big a case to be confined to military circles," Day said. "The public needs to know the truth about this."
The rape victims recently won legal aid to sue the British Ministry of Defence. Day is seeking $20,000 per victim and legal proceedings are set to commence in October in a London court. No price can be placed on the amount of suffering and humiliation the rape victims experienced, but their lawyer said compensation would serve as an acknowledgment of the wrong done so that the women could have a sense of closure and begin the healing process.
The alleged rapes are not the only misery that British soldiers brought to rural Kenya. Under a special agreement between the UK and Kenya, approximately 3,000 British soldiers train in Kenya each year. The army systematically failed to clear up after "live" military exercises leaving massive ranges of the countryside practically littered with unexploded bombs. Hundreds of children, who either accidentally stepped on or tried to play with the deadly weapons, have been killed or maimed. About 233 families received compensation in a package worth $7 million last November. Another compensation package for a second group of bomb victims, consisting of 1,000 families, is currently being negotiated.
"British soldiers have done terrible things in Kenya," Day said. "This is one of the darkest chapters of British Army history."
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 24 - 30 July 2003 (Issue No. 648)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/648/int2.htm