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Kenya Not Yet Free From British Hold

Kenya’s parliament has accused British soldiers that were stationed at the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) base of decades of sexual assaults, killings, maimings, the abandonment of children, human rights violations and environmental destruction. A 94-page report follows a two-year inquiry into accusations surrounding BATUK. The report suggests that the base used dangerous substances like white phosphorus in its field exercises, resulting in serious health and environmental impacts for the local community.

The investigating panel also accused the soldiers of refusing to cooperate with the investigation, claiming diplomatic immunity. As Jean-Christophe Servant wrote in 2022: ‘BATUK, which has been stationed in Kenya since 1964 and trains up to 4,000 British infantry a year, long enjoyed diplomatic immunity, but this ended in 2016 when Nairobi and London renewed their five-year defence agreement. Justice [Antonina Cossy] Bor was the first to follow through on the implications of this, meaning BATUK, previously protected from legal action, could now face a “flood of lawsuits”.’

Last month, one former British soldier, accused of the 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was found in a septic tank, was arrested; he now faces extradition.

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