News:

Parliamentary inquiry finds British troops responsible for decades of sexual abuse, unlawful killings and environmental destruction

Two-year inquiry by a Kenyan parliamentary committee has found evidence of serious and sustained human rights violations by British troops in the country, underpinned by an ‘entrenched culture of impunity and institutional negligence.’

A two-year inquiry conducted by Kenyan Parliament’s Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations has found evidence of serious and sustained abuses committed by British soldiers stationed in the country. The troops are all members of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), the British Army’s largest contingent of soldiers in Africa, with a base next to Laikipia Airbase near to the town of Nanyuki, 200km north of Nairobi. The inquiry, established to investigate ‘allegations of human rights violations, including mistreatment, torture, unlawful detention, killings, or any other violations of internationally recognised human rights standards,’ heard testimony at public hearings in Laikipia county and Samburu county in May 2024 and via a number of stakeholder engagement exercises through to October 2025.1

The inquiry was presented with ‘compelling evidence of widespread sexual violence perpetrated by BATUK, particularly against women from the Samburu and Maasai communities.’ Such violence appears to have taken place over an extended period, with ‘serious failures of accountability by both the British and Kenyan governments.’ There was, the inquiry found, ‘an entrenched culture of impunity and institutional negligence.’2 It also highlighted cases of British soldiers fathering children in Kenya, who have been subsequently abandoned when the soldiers returned to the UK.3

The committee also found that British authorities have repeatedly evaded accountability efforts and have not cooperated with the inquiry’s work. Survivors say that their cases have been dropped or mishandled by local authorities, despite the report finding ‘compelling evidence’ of widespread abuses by BATUK soldiers.4

The report came after the arrest of a British soldier over the alleged murder of Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was found in a hotel septic tank in a garrison town of Nanyuki in 2012. The former soldier is contesting extradition to Kenya.5

Local residents also reported significant concerns to the committee about the environmental damage caused by BATUK. This included ‘credible community concern that chemical contaminants, including white phosphorus, may have polluted local soils and water sources.’6

Unredacted is today publishing the inquiry’s 92-page report.

  1. Kenyan National Assembly (Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations), The Inquiry Into the Conduct of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK), Nov 2025, p. 7. ↩︎
  2. Kenyan National Assembly (Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations), The Inquiry Into the Conduct of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK), Nov 2025, p. 15. ↩︎
  3. BBC News, Kenyans Prove Paternity Case Against UK Soldiers, Josephine Casserly and Ivana Davidovic, 3 Oct 2025. ↩︎
  4. Kenyan National Assembly (Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations), The Inquiry Into the Conduct of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK), Nov 2025, p.16.   ↩︎
  5. BBC News, Ex-Soldier Arrested Over Alleged Murder Denied Bail, Bea Swallow and Ellie Price, 24 Nov 2025. ↩︎
  6. Kenyan National Assembly (Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations), The Inquiry Into the Conduct of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK), Nov 2025, p. 9. ↩︎