'British troops have a culture of rape'

[dArKeR]

Nairobi - The solicitor representing 650 Kenyan tribeswomen who allege they have been raped by British soldiers, called for a public inquiry on Sunday. He also claimed that children were among the victims.

"We have examples of children as young as seven or eight who have been raped and boys who have been sodomised - right up to women in their 50s. I am convinced they are genuine," said Martyn Day.

He claimed there has been a "culture" of raping tribal women among British soldiers training in rural Kenya over the past 30 years.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030929045024451C823370&set_id=1

[doubleplusgood]

1. there are still British troops in Kenya ?

I thought they left in the late 50's or early 60's after Kenya became independent.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. There's no permanent base

but they do train there, with the permission of the Kenyan government.
http://www.warmafrica.com/index/geo/8/cat/1/a/a/artid/261
"The British army sends about 3,000 soldiers to Kenya each year for target practice at five military ranges."

Various governments allow troops from other countries to train, if relations are friendly - here's a news story from a few days ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3131058.stm
"Motorists using a public road in Wigtownshire were forced to stop by Ukrainian marines acting with French soldiers.

The events took place during an amphibious landing exercise at Luce Bay on Saturday."


The Ukraine isn't a member of NATO (yet), but they were training in the UK.
Can you imagine if this happened in the USA?