100s disappeared at hands of Kenyan militia: rights group

27 October 2011 - 11:47 By Sapa-dpa
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Members of Kenya's army march past the presidential dais during the ceremony for the proclamation of the country's new constitution at Uhuru Park in Nairobi. File photo.
Members of Kenya's army march past the presidential dais during the ceremony for the proclamation of the country's new constitution at Uhuru Park in Nairobi. File photo.
Image: AFP PHOTO/SIMON MAINA

Hundreds of people "disappeared" at the hands of the Kenyan army and a local militia in the west of the country between 2006 and 2008, with no justice for the victims' families, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released Thursday.

The New York-based rights group said the people went missing during a conflict between a local militia group, the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF), and the governmental security forces who cracked down on the rebel gunmen.

The SLDF is said to have attacked "thousands of civilians, killing, raping, and mutilating," while the security forces "carried out hundreds of extra-judicial killings and the torture and arbitrary detention of thousands," according to the report, entitled ‘Hold Your Heart’.

""With no bodies to bury, no death certificates, and no official recognition of the loss of their family members, these families remain in a legal and psychological limbo," said Daniel Bekele, the Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The SLDF killed an estimated 750 people, while the army and police killed an estimated 270, the report said. According to the research, 199 people disappeared at the hands of the security forces and 126 due to the militia.

The report said the government should set up a commission of inquiry and establish a mechanism for compensation for the family members of victims of enforced disappearances.

The rights group also said the International Criminal Court should see if it has the jurisdiction to look into the alleged crimes, as it is already investigating the violence that erupted in Kenya after the 2007 election, which left 1 200 people dead.

The SLDF was said to have been allied with some opposition politicians in the run-up to the polls. The group was created in 2005 to resist government attempts to evict squatters in the Mt. Elgon region.

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