Kenya Pulls Abusive Military Forces from Security Operation in Mt. Elgon

The Kenyan government announced that the military will withdraw from active operations in Kenya's Mt. Elgon region, where Human Rights Watch documented torture and other abuses by those forces. The decision was spurred by the British government's announcement that it would suspend military training to Kenya as urged by Human Rights Watch. To achieve this policy shift, Human Rights Watch generated massive press coverage in the United Kingdom about the Mt. Elgon military abuses perpetrated by British-trained troops, including stories in the Guardian, Times, Independent, Daily Telegraph, Scotsman, and on the BBC. Channel 4 News ran a lengthy segment on the issue, in which two Human Rights Watch experts provided commentary. Prior to the UK decision, one of our experts visited London at the invitation of Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) to present her findings on atrocities in Mt. Elgon to UK government officials, and another gave extensive briefings at the British High Commission in Nairobi and at the Foreign Office in London. Human Rights Watch is now urging Kenya to conduct a thorough investigation and to hold accountable those responsible for torture and other serious abuses.