British Soldiers May Face Kenyan Rape Charges: Report

September 28, 2003 - 0:0
LONDON -- Army investigators believe that at least 37 tribeswomen have been raped by British soldiers training in northern Kenya, ***The Times*** newspaper reported Saturday.

Military police were believed to be considering charges against two serving soldiers, one for rape and one, a senior officer, for allegedly failing to report rape by his subordinates, the London-based daily said.

It added that a dozen other officers faced investigation for covering up reports of sexual assaults by their men.

Meanwhile, the ***Guardian*** daily reported in London that an inquiry by British forensic experts into claims that more than 600 women were raped by British troops between the 1970s and 2000 had concluded that all the local police records produced to substantiate the allegations were forgeries, AFP reported.

Lawyer Martyn Day is seeking millions of pounds (euros, dollars) in damages from Britain for around 650 Maasai and Samburu women.

Last November, Day obtained from London a 4.5 million dollar out-of-court compensation package for 232 Kenyan tribesmen, for a trail of death and injuries caused by explosions of live ordnance left behind by British troops.

A spokesman for Britain's Defense Ministry said: "We can confirm that there is an ongoing criminal investigation into rape allegations by Kenyan women. "The Ministry of Defense takes these allegations extremely seriously. The Kenyan authorities are cooperating with the investigation and the (British) Royal Military Police are at present dealing with those cases reported and investigated by the Kenyan police."