Kenyan forces again accused of torture, rape

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Security forces tortured scores of men and raped a dozen women in a sweep against the mainly ethnic Somali population of remote northeast Kenya intended to disarm militias, a rights group said on Monday.

The accusation by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) of brutalities in a late 2008 operation adds to a litany of allegations against Kenya's army and police in the past few years of terrorising and killing in security sweeps.

"This is not a question of a few bad apples disobeying orders," said Kenneth Roth, HRW executive director. "This operation was the result of a strategy devised by senior officials to use brutal force against Kenyans."

Echoing the recommendation of a U.N. report on abuses by Kenyan security forces, Roth urged the removal of the east African nation's police commissioner and attorney-general.

The security forces routinely deny allegations of abuse. They say rights groups swallow politically motivated accounts by activists.

"The story of torture and rape by our forces does not exist. Anyone who says so needs psychiatric help," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told Reuters.

"We have incidents of one or two officers committing crime and these are found guilty of unprofessional conduct. But these stories (of torture) are a terrible offence," he said.

HRW said the October 2008 operation to disarm warring militias in the Mandera region -- a notoriously violent area where the borders of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia meet -- left more than 1,200 injured, one dead, and at least 12 women raped.