MOUNT ELGON: LOCAL NGO AND KENYAN NATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 NAIROBI 001328 SIPDIS LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2018 TAGS: MOPS ASEC PGOV PHUM KE SUBJECT: MOUNT ELGON: LOCAL NGO AND KENYAN NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS REF: A. NAIROBI 906 ¶B. NAIROBI 804 ¶C. NAIROBI 706 Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger for reasons 1.4 (B and D) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Poloff met with the Executive Director of the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU),a Kenyan human rights organization, who led an investigative team on a week-long fact-finding trip to the Mount Elgon region. The findings of the team corroborate earlier allegations made by local and international human rights groups of human rights violations perpetrated by Kenyan security forces during operations against the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF)(ref B). The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) subsequently released a report of questionable credibility corroborating IMLU's allegations. DATT and the Deputy Chief of the Mission's Kenya-U.S. Liaison Office (KUSLO) recently visited Mt. Elgon on a Kenya Ministry of Defense (KMOD)-sponsored trip, but were unable to conclusively confirm or deny allegations of human rights violations leveled at security forces. Media has reported that a police team has been sent to Mount Elgon to investigate allegations of human rights violations, and Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti admitted privately to the Ambassador that police forces had likely committed human rights violations. IMLU is prepared to file a legal suit against those allegedly involved. We intend to facilitate a meeting between IMLU and senior MoD officials. As some police units wear uniforms that are strikingly similar to military uniforms, we believe there may be some confusion among human rights NGOs (and the victims themselves) about who may have committed the bulk of the alleged human rights abuses. The Ambassador has raised USG concerns regarding allegations of gross human rights violations with Minister of Defense Haji, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and the Minister of Internal Security. All agreed on the need for thorough investigation and we are following up. END SUMMARY. -------------- IMLU Finds Evidence of Torture -------------- ¶2. (C) IMLU is a Kenyan human rights organization staffed by both legal and medical experts. It focuses on medical documentation of human rights violations, particularly torture. An IMLU team of one doctor, one legal officer and Executive Director Sam Mohochi undertook a fact-finding mission to the Mount Elgon region from April 14-17. ¶3. (C) According to Mohochi, 1380 suspected SLDF members are currently in police custody. The IMLU team visited Bungoma prison, where 470 suspected SLDF members are being held pending trial. The rest are being housed in prisons in Kakamega, Kitale, and Vihiga. ¶4. (C) During its visit to Bungoma prison, the IMLU team noted clearly visible soft tissue injuries on nearly all suspected SLDF members. Through medical examinations, it documented 97 cases of torture and also witnessed the autopsies of two detainees who died in custody. ¶5. (C) The team also conducted interviews with 27 prisoners. Each was interviewed separately. The interviewees relayed broadly consistent experiences of being rounded up by Kenyan military units at "Barazas" -- public gatherings called by civil authorities, often under the pretext of giving out certification of non-membership in SLDF. When the community turned out, the military came and separated males from females. All males who appeared physically mature (including a number of minors) were transported to one of two military camps (Kapkota and Kaptama) for "screening" -- to determine whether they were SLDF members. Interviewees claimed that they were beaten during the transport to camps while in military custody. When they arrived at the detention camps, NAIROBI 00001328 002 OF 004 interviewees told consistent stories of being forced to crawl over barbed wire, of being forced to beat other detainees, and of receiving beatings by security personnel. Detainees told of screening sessions lasting from several hours up to three days. After the screening sessions finished, those who were identified as suspected SLDF members were transferred to police stations. After arraignment, they were transferred to prisons. Those not identified as SLDF members were released. (Note: We know from multiple sources that security interventions in villages were carried out by police GSU units, whose uniforms are virtually identical to those worn by the army. End Note) ¶6. (C) While in the Mt. Elgon region, Mohochi spoke to members of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC), who relayed allegations that eight suspected SLDF members were being held at Kitale Prison and claimed to have been burned by hot machetes while in custody. According to CJPC, one of the eight, a 17-year-old boy, died of his injuries. ¶7. (C) Mohochi stated that according to his interviews, the Gilgil-based 120th Mortar/Artillery Battalion, a Gilgil-based Paratrooper Support Battalion, and the Nanyuki-based 4th Brigade are involved in the operation. (Comment: According to our own inquiries, the 4th Brigade did not deploy to Mt. Elgon. While there is an artillery unit based in Gilgil, we have no confirmation that this unit deployed to Mt. Elgon. However, the Gilgil-based 20th Parachute Battalion was deployed to the area which includes a mortar platoon. End Note.) Mohochi stated that IMLU has retained counsel to institute legal proceedings against officers (names unavailable) commanding the operation. The attorneys wrote the Minister of Defense and the Chief of General Staff asking them to admit liability for acts of torture and demanding the withdrawal of military forces, stating that the deployment was not made by a decision of the Defense Council and therefore has no legal basis. The letter threatened suit if the Ministry of Defense did not respond. -------------- KNCHR Condemns Military Human Rights Abuses, Asks Attorney General to Investigate -------------- ¶8. (U) On May 15, the KNCHR also released a report on alleged human rights abuses in the Mt. Elgon military operation. The report tread much the same ground as the IMLU report. The language of the report is provocative and often makes unsubstantiated allegations related to the number of people tortured and killed during the operations. However, the report contains numerous reports of medical examinations and victim statements alleging that soldiers participated in human rights abuses. KNCHR has written to the Attorney General asking that several field commanders involved in the operation be investigated for human rights abuses and dereliction of duty to investigate human rights violations. The letter also seeks investigations of high-ranking police and army officials for the same violations on the basis of command responsibility. KNCHR also has written to the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, requesting Arbour to recommend that the UN Security Council suspend Kenyan military participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations until it takes measures to investigate and address human rights violations allegedly committed by the military. -------------- Military Denies "Mischievous" Allegations and Invites DATTs to Visit Area -------------- ¶9. (U) Minister of Defense Yusuf Haji denied allegations that army personnel were responsible for torture at an April 25 press conference. Haji claimed that local people were responsible for mistreatment or that mistreatment occurred after suspects had been transferred to police custody. Haji later signed a letter to the same effect, claiming that allegations of torture could be traced to mob violence against SLDF suspects, which occurred before they were turned over by local communities into government custody. NAIROBI 00001328 003 OF 004 ¶10. (C) On May 14, DATT and Deputy KUSLO traveled to Mount Elgon a KMOD-sponsored trip for Nairobi-based Defense Attaches. During the one-day trip, DATT and Deputy KUSLO were shown the Kapkota camp, which is located in a field next to a primary school, and flown by helicopter to see the area of operations. DATT and Deputy KUSLO were unable to confirm or deny allegations of human rights violations leveled at the military (and police) forces, but did speak to soldiers on the ground who described the military's role in the operation (septel). Interestingly, DATT and KUSLO saw abundant evidence of positive civilian attitudes toward the Kenyan armed forces. Villagers warmly greeted military, children spontaneously jumped into military vehicles, and people waved to passing helicopters. ¶11. (C) During a May 22 meeting with the Ambassador, Haji emphasized that the KNHCR report is biased. The report's author, Hassan Omar, was dishonorably discharged from the army and has an agenda, Haji said. Haji continued that KMOD's efforts to investigate alleged human rights abuses have not yielded any specific results because no victims or witnesses have come forward to accuse military forces of human rights abuses, in spite of his public appeal for people to do so. KMOD actually followed up on a media report from one alleged victim, Haji said, but when KMOD officials tried to interview the alleged victim he refused to answer any questions and then ran away, claiming that "the army was after him." "We don't know how to proceed," Haji said. "We are at a loss. If we have a lead, we'll investigate." Haji told the Ambassador that any soldier found to have committed human rights violations would be harshly dealt with. ¶12. (C) Haji also said that it was unlikely that army personnel were engaged in gross human rights abuses, given the army's role in the operation, their previous experience in peacekeeping operations, and their general understanding of humanitarian law. While unwilling to say that police committed acts of torture, Haji did relay a story of an SLDF suspect who evaded arrest who "ran into trouble" with the police. When pressed by the Ambassador, Haji and the Armed Forces Chief of Staff agreed to meet with Human Rights Watch and IMLU representatives. We are following up. -------------- - ICRC Confirms Concerns About Abuses, Concedes Difficulty of Army/Police Distinction -------------- - ¶13. (C) During a May 23 meeting with the Ambassador, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation Head Christoph Luedi said that his organization has been talking to the families of those who went missing during the Mt. Elgon operation and has delivered a list of the missing as well as a document containing allegations of abuses to KMOD. Although ICRC has not yet received an answer or cooperation, he did meet with Defense Minister Haji. Luedi added that it was not at all clear who was responsible for committing the alleged abuses (i.e., police or army units),but that he was having a great deal of difficulty in gaining the cooperation of the police. In an unhelpful meeting with Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, Luedi was told that the ICRC has no right to intervene in the Mt. Elgon operation, as it was an internal security matter so international humanitarian law does not apply. -------------- Police Team Sent to Investigate Allegations -------------- ¶14. (U) The Kenyan Police Service recently sent a six-member team to investigate allegations of security forces' involvement in human rights violations. The team is lead by Kenyan police spokesman Eric Kiraithe and is supposed to deliver a preliminary report to the Commissioner of Police soon. ¶15. (C) In a one-on-one meeting with the Ambassador on May 23, Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti admitted that police likely committed human rights violations during the Mt. Elgon operation. Saitoti sad he had come to the NAIROBI 00001328 004 OF 004 conclusion that fundamental reform of the police is urgently need to make the police more effective, and to end human rights abuses and corruption. Although he made no indication of whether the Kiraithe-led investigation would yield any credible results, he did promise to share them with us. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶16. (C) IMLU's allegations of human rights abuse corroborate allegations made in April by Human Rights Watch and local human rights organizations. We have encouraged IMLU, Human Rights Watch, and other organizations to turn over information on human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the Kenyan military to the Ministry of Defense and Kenyan Police Service to allow them to investigate. The HRW researcher told us that he approached the Ministry of Defense and was referred to the police. When he met with Kenya Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe, he was told that he would be arrested and deported. ¶17. (C) In light of Defense Minister Haji's willingness to pursue an investigation, we have contacted IMLU to facilitate a meeting with high-level KMOD officials, which may occur as early as next week. Internal Security Minister Saitoti told the Ambassador that he would be willing to meet with the ICRC the following week. We believe there may be some misunderstanding among human rights organizations (and the victims they interviewed) as to which units may have been responsible for the abuses. The Administrative Police and General Services Unit, both branches of the police, wear uniforms that are strikingly similar to military uniform (even some Defense Attaches on the Mt. Elgon trip had trouble distinguishing between them). We have also heard reports that the Administrative Police's Rapid Deployment Unit was likely responsible for at least some of the alleged violations. Nevertheless, both organizations have an obligation to conduct credible investigations into the allegations. We will continue to press both ministries on this issue. RANNEBERGER