Officers cleared of Mt Elgon abuses
Police Commissioner Major General Husain Ali Mohammed presents a report on the Mt Elgon security operation to Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti on Wednesday. Photo/PETERSON GITHAIGA
What you need to know:
- New police probe dismisses past findings by other groups.
- Another probe could be undertaken if present findings are dismissed by the public.
- Report's release coincided with ongoing withdrawal of military personnel from Mt Elgon.
A new report has absolved the police and military from claims of torture, rape and other human rights abuses in Mt Elgon District.
The findings of the probe conducted by a team of police officers were released on Wednesday by Internal Security minister George Saitoti.
The report rubbished previous findings released by local and international human rights organisations on the conduct of troops deployed to flush out the Sabaot Land Defence Forces (SLDF) from the district.
Its release coincided with the ongoing withdrawal of military personnel from the area after four months of the operation.
The team, led by Nyanza Province CID chief Spavier Mbogho, was appointed by Police Commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali to investigate claims made in the damning reports.
The minister said: “The Government does not condone torture and, in any case, the joint forces were strictly directed to operate within the rule of law.”
Maj-Gen Ali, who received the report last week and presented it to the minister, said many cases mentioned in a report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights lacked proof while others were false.
He also punched holes into medical reports cited by the commission, saying a pathologist who conducted examinations on 26 alleged torture victims was not qualified to do so and ordered that the doctor be charged with contravening the regulations.
Maj-Gen Ali further faulted the authenticity of the Mt Elgon residents who alleged they were tortured.
He cited three cases of complainants whose national identity card numbers mentioned in the report did not match with those at the registrar of persons.
The police chief also said that some of the people interviewed by commission did not live in Mt Elgon.
Another probe
Prof Saitoti said the report will be made available for scrutiny by the public. However, he said another probe would be undertaken if the present findings were dismissed by the public.
The Independent Medico-Legal Unit, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, had condemned the officers.
The human rights commission even asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Louise Arbour, to recommend to the UN Security Council the suspension of the Kenyan Army from any future UN peace-keeping missions.
