UPDATED ON:
Monday, October 20, 2008
20:27 Mecca time, 17:27 GMT
 
News Africa
Kenyan police accused of rape

Only a fraction of the women raped during the violence are believed to have come forward

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Kenyan woman gang raped during the post-election violence in her country has accused policemen of carrying out the crime.

Beatrice, who was interviewed by Al Jazeera seven months ago over the same attack, now says she was raped at a showground by "police in uniform". The rape left her pregnant and HIV positive.

Violence engulfed Kenya after Mwai Kibaki, the president, claimed victory in a disputed presidential poll despite widespread fraud allegations.

Beatrice has since given birth to a baby girl.

She said: "I went and got checked and when they tested me they found that I was pregnant and that I was HIV positive.

"I had been raped by people who were HIV positive. I began agonising about the pregnancy. I was wondering what to do with the baby. A friend told me not to kill the baby."

But after Beatrice had given birth she realised whom her attackers were.

"I saw the people who did this to me - they were dressed in police uniforms," she said.

The men had told Beatrice and her friends that they were coming to take care of them, Yvonne Ndege, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Nairobi, said.

Rape was used as a tool of violence during the ethnic conflicts that erupted nationwide in December last year, she said.

Many police officers were implicated in rapes and the election violence.

'Rape babies'

"Nobody knows how many ‘rape babies' were conceived during the post-election violence," Ndege said.

In video

Kenya's victims of
rape and violence

"Part of the problem is that many of the women who were raped are just too afraid to come forward."

But 29 women have come forward to Dr Rose Owaga, a clinical psychologist. She found that many of them were raped by groups of three men, Ndege said.

At least 14 of the women were HIV positive before they were raped, but the rapists did not seem to care, she added.

Some of the women pleaded with their assailants, telling them that they were HIV positive.

But the women said that they were beaten and their pleas went unheeded.

The police say they are investigating the sexual crimes that were committed during the mayhem.

No charge

But they have been doing so for months and no officer has been charged despite hundreds of allegations, Ndege said.

"Many of the women told me that they had tried to go to the police with their accusations and on many occasions they found that they were unwilling to take statements."

Ndege said that a government report released last Friday about the violence highlights such behaviour. It also recommends that a female police unit and tribunal should be set up and any people who have committed crimes be brought to justice.

Hassan Omar Hassan, vice chair of Keny's National Commission on Human Rights, told Al Jazeera that the report says that there could be about 900 rape victims.

He said: "There is a national feeling to bring people to account and it is possible if there is political will across the grand coalition."

He added that care and compensation could be provided once victims come forward and an plan of assistance is created, including help for children who are products of rape.

Beatrice fears she will die of Aids and that there will be nobody to look after her baby.

She feels Kenya's coalition government simply isn't doing enough to help victims like her.

Kibaki and his opponent Raila Odinga, the current prime minister, formed a unity government after months of political deadlock.

About 1,500 people died after the presidential vote. Another 600,000 people were displaced.

 Source: Al Jazeera
Feedback Number of comments : 22
 
Ayub
Afghanistan
21/10/2008
Iraq,Afghanistan,Sudan,etc...
How about the women of Iraq who were raped by the US soldiers and videotaped,how many more rapes have gone unreported because of their religion and culture preventing them to come forward for the fear of getting disowned or never be able to get married...These stories are swept under the carpet..How about Afghanistan's women who have been raped by the US,NATO,ISAF,etc..No one knows how many but i'm sure it has gor to be in the hundreds..Who will prosecute these animals...

UN_Owen
Canada
20/10/2008
Kenyan rape
Every day dozens or even hundreds of women get raped in Sudan and you write about Kenya.

Gorm
Zambia
22/10/2008
Rape
This angers me so much. Rape is the worst, most cold-blooded thing that someone can do. and the repurcussions of such actions are terrible...not only towards the victims, but the entire urban fabric of the region. more mouths to feed, tensions between sexes/ethnicities/the common and the powerful, and the spread of stds tops it off. this is a menacing tool of violence and it's a damn shame that many rape victims do not get the support that they need.

Mike K.
United States
23/10/2008
To Ayub, Rape is a crime, no matter who the perpetrator. I support the US mission in Afghanistan but would never protect a rapist from prosecution. I don't know anyone who would. Only perpetrators should be disowned or disgraced, never the victims.

Banan
United States
23/10/2008
Rape
Rape is such a horrible experience but it does happen everywhere Ayub. Female American SOLDIERS have been captured and raped as well, so its illogical to point the finger at anyone. Its not a nationality problem. Its an Earth problem. People from every country contain the same amount of evil as the next when it comes to that aspect and its JUST as terrible wherever you are

Terrence B
Canada
23/10/2008
Rape in Kenya
The incident of rape is many times greater in Africa then anywhere in the world. Sadly this story almost isn't news. Even sadder some people, Ayub, trivialize it and the victims suffering with exaggerated distraction. One of every two women in South Africa will be raped, one every 17 seconds excluding child victims! Why do Western countries threaten China on rights yet gleefully embrace South Africa as the host for World Cop 2010? Is it because in Africa rape is not a violation but a right??

Tom
Australia
24/10/2008
Kenyan police accusations of rape
Africans are their own worst enemies. With worthless government ministers and worthless institutions like their police, will they ever amount to anything?

mike
United States
24/10/2008
US troops
If you have proof something that you personally have seen please tell or pass it on to someone in the US government or military. We do not condone these acts. Unfortunately, it is possible and it is possible that someone has concocted false videos and stories in an effort to support their positions in their part of the world.

George Washington
Afghanistan
24/10/2008
rape
There is a camp in Sudan where they keep thousands of women behind fences. The Sudanese army has a rotation set up where their units get to take turns raping the women of the camp en-masse....and Al-Jazeera is talking about this. It makes me want to vomit. Report some Muslim on African pagan/christian crimes for once!

George Washington
Afghanistan
24/10/2008
rape
Go to hell, Gitahi. If you have access to a computer in that country you're rich enough to be above these problems and are more than likely a member of (or child of a member) the political party responsible for these crimes. You think nine hundred plus women all mistook paramilitaries for police officers? Not likely, and if that was true where were the real police? That money they paid you to post that? It's BLOOD MONEY, SHAME ON YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY!

George Washington
Afghanistan
25/10/2008
SHAME
SHAME ON YOU ALJAZEERA FOR POSTING GITAHI'S COMMENTS, HE IS OBVIOUSLY SYMPATHETIC WITH THE KENYAN GOVT (IF NOT PAID BY) AND SAID THOSE THINGS IN AN ATTEMPT TO MUDDLE THE SITUATION. SHAME ON YOU! THINK OF HOW YOU JUST CHEAPENED THE SUFFERING OF THOSE WOMEN. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!

kenyaqueen
Canada
25/10/2008
Re: UN I just wanted to let you know that just because you are not hearing or seeing much regarding the rape of sudanese women and a lot of girls between the ages of 3 years old ant 16, doesn't mean that these reports are out there. Just in the past month I have seen 2 international documentaries on crimes committed against sudanese women and children. I have also seen news paper readings and many people talking about these people. What I really haven't heard of is this issue of kenyan women

kc, England
United Kingdom
21/10/2008
Kenyan police accused of rape
To un_owen, canada what difference does it makes WHERE the victims lived - rape is rape. You make it seem that rape victims in Sudan are better than victims in Kenya - RAPE IS RAPE - a violation of a women no matter where she is from or what is happening in her country. Shame on you UN_Owen from Canada shame on you

klinblack
Kenya
22/10/2008
Kenyan police accused of rape
It is absurd to think that the people who perpetuated this violence were the Ministers in Parliament and they are talking about getting Amnesty for what they did?What justice are we looking for?Kofi Annan failed in Rwanda wat can he do for us here in Kenya?

Moses Mbawo
Zambia
22/10/2008
Kenya Police Rape
It hurts to read of people like un_owen who seem so ignorant about rape. Piece of advice to him: If that happened to your wife, location would not matter. Lets defend womens rights. Am so dissapointed with your comment. You were better off keeping quiet.

gitahi githuku
Kenya
22/10/2008
police rape
I FULLY CONDEMN ANY SORT OF RAPE AND THE IMPUNITY MOSTLY ACCOMPANIED BY THE ACTORS IN RAPE. THE KENYA POLICE MIGHT HAVE CORRUPT POLICE AND STATE AGENTS BUT STILL BEFORE WE GO AHEAD AND CONDEMN THEM THEY NEED TO BE PROVEN GUILTY TO UPHOLD JUSTICE.DURING THE UGLY POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE SEVERAL MILITIAS WERE KNOWN TO HAVE UNIFORMS AND COULD HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR STATE AGENTS. IF WE BLINDLY CONDEMN THE POLICE THE ACTORS MIGHT WALK AND CONTINUE RAPING AND KILLING.MAY JUSTICE PREVAIL.

klinblack
Kenya
23/10/2008
Kenyan police accused of rape
To Mr. Gitahi Githuku,please inform the masses on who will carry out the investigations on the rape is it the same police?As for the militias who wore uniforms please do not forget that the State was boosting Mungiki as well as the soldiers from Uganda were invited.So for you top say what you are saying is ridiculous.If you do not want us to condemn the police blankly then tell me did you see on live television people being shot by the police with live bullets.Please get your facts straight.

WAGADIGA
Kenya
23/10/2008
KENYA POLICE RAPE
WE ALL CONDEMN RAPE GITAHI BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS KENYAN POLICE RAPED WOMEN, IF THEY KILLED INNOCENT KENYANS N CAPTURED BY CAMERAS, WHAT IS RAPE TO THEM??? SO DNT SAY KENYAN POLICE DDNT RAPE OUR WOMEN.

Attila Jonathan
Uganda
24/10/2008
Absurd
Its very shocking to realise that the people who are supposed to maintain law and order in the state are the ones perpetuating these kinds of vices and practises ,we strongly condemn this and ask the government to bring the perpetrators to book.They took advantage of the situation at the time time to commit this kind s of injustuces.What kind of lives will the kids born live.What degree of trauma will they face when they come of age and realise that they were concieved as a result of a rape.

George Washington
Afghanistan
24/10/2008
rape
Owen is absolutely right, there are far worse mass-rape scenarios occuring in Sudan and Sri Lanka, among many others. Yeah rape is bad everywhere but shouldn't thousands of rapes recieve more attention that a few hundred? What happened in Kenya was terrible, but there are far worse attrocities being committed upon women in other parts of the world. Owen was merely scolding Al-Jazeera for wasting time reporting this when there are worse incidents of rape happening *right now* in other countries.

NANYOKIA
Afghanistan
29/10/2008
RAPE IN KENYA
why dont you guys tell us of what happened in Afghan and Iraq?Maybe because Kenya is a third world while U.Sarmy are from the first world??Rape is a crime yes but why should you guys focus on it where it is minimal and forget to do that where it happens nearly after every 10 seconds .

H
Afghanistan
07/11/2008
Rape in Kenya
I think its great that Aljazeera had a story on this. Rape is the most unnatural thing humans do and should be reported on where ever it happens. It should be brought to everyone's attention so that we make more of an effort in our society to stop this everywhere.

 
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