Kenya holds public hearings into alleged abuses by British troops

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00:00 After years of complaints, their voices are finally being heard.

00:04 On Thursday, about a thousand Kenyans living near a British military base

00:08 gathered in front of this parliamentary commission

00:11 to tell their stories of abuse.

00:13 The soccerless Asoyan took what he thought was just

00:16 some small piece of metal on the ground and started playing with it.

00:20 It ended up detonating.

00:22 It gouged out his two eyes.

00:24 What he has here are prosthetic eyes.

00:26 He lost his both arms.

00:27 Victims are asking for compensation

00:30 and speak about injuries, rapes and damaged land.

00:34 What we'll be looking at is ethical breaches,

00:38 human rights abuse and general integrity

00:41 of the officers who operate here from the British army.

00:44 They then head to the capital of the Likipia county.

00:48 On the road, the cars pass the British military base.

00:52 Following a deal signed in 1964,

00:55 British troops are stationed in Kenya for training purposes.

00:59 Here too, the complaints are numerous.

01:02 This young woman wrote a letter to her aunt, Agnes Wanjiru,

01:06 found dead in a hotel's septic tank in 2012.

01:10 The family accuses a British soldier.

01:13 In November 2021, the Sunday Times reported on your murder

01:17 and that's when we discovered a prime suspect,

01:19 so the axe had already been sent back to Britain.

01:22 No one here is questioning the British military presence.

01:25 It's the impunity that's angering people.

01:28 The army says its soldiers have diplomatic immunity,

01:32 but for the county's attorney,

01:34 this goes against the deal signed between the two countries.

01:38 If you read it, you will find that they are subject to our constitution.

01:43 As long as they are present within the country,

01:45 there is supposed to be an intergovernmental liaison committee.

01:48 Two representatives from the Batuuk

01:50 and two representatives from the Kenya army.

01:55 However, now that has never been implemented.

01:58 The British embassy said it intends to cooperate with the inquiry.

02:02 The Committee on National Security has yet to announce

02:05 when it will publish its conclusions.

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