Kenyan Report Accuses UK Troops of Misconduct, Abuses

A Kenyan parliamentary committee has released a report accusing British soldiers stationed at a training base in the East African nation of widespread sexual misconduct, human rights violations and environmental damage over decades, prompting calls for greater accountability and reforms to the bilateral defense agreement.

The 94-page inquiry, conducted by the National Assembly's Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee and published this week, details allegations from communities in Laikipia and Samburu counties near Nanyuki, about 200 kilometers north of Nairobi. Based on public hearings, victim testimonies and submissions from civil society groups, the report highlights a pattern of sexual assaults, abandonment of children fathered by troops and inadequate handling of training hazards that have led to injuries and deaths. It describes British personnel from the British Army Training Unit Kenya, or BATUK, as having fostered a sense of occupation among locals due to unchecked behavior.

BATUK, established in 1963 shortly after Kenya's independence from Britain, maintains a permanent presence of around 100 staff and rotates up to 280 troops for exercises in the...