The Case of the Inter-Ethnic Land Conflicts in Mount Elgon District of Western Province in Kenya

The Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development.

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Brandeis University

The Gendered effects of Land Conflict: The Case of the Inter-Ethnic Land Conflicts in Mount Elgon District of Western Province in Kenya.

Pamela Kimkung

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree

Sustainable International Development

Professor Cristina Espinosa

Academic Advisor Date

04/25/10115/201

______

Director, Programs in Sustainable International Development Date

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Abstract------4

2.0 Executive Summary------5

3.0 Acknowledgements------7

4.0 Abbreviation------8

5.0 Introduction------10

5.1. Definition of the development Question------10

5.2 Contribution to the Development field------10

5.3 Context of Study------12

6.0 Background and Problem Statement------13

6.1. Geographical Background------12

6.2. Genesis of the conflict------14

7.0 Methods------16

7.1- secondary Review------16

7.2. Personal experience------17

7.3 Limitations------17

8.0 Literature Review------18

8.1 Land Conflict in Kenya: An Overview------19

8.2 Historical Background------19

8.3 Role of SALW------

8.3 Effects of Land Conflict in Mt.Elgon------20

8.3.1 Forced Displacement------20

8.3.2 Effects of violence on women, men children &other vulnerable groups------22

8.3.4 Sexual Violence as a weapon of War------23

8.3.7 International Laws, Resolutions &Conventions------27

8.5.1 UN Security council Resolution 1325------27

8.5.2 The Rome Statute------27

8.5.3OHCHR------2

8.5.4-CEDAW------28

8.5.6-TJRC------29

9.0 Findings and Substantive Discussion------30

9.1 Gendered impacts of armed conflict------30

9.2 What are the effects of the inter-ethnic land conflict on women men& children 34

9.3 What are the socio-economic effects of land inter-ethnic conflict------34

9.4 How is sexual violence used as a weapon of war------43

9.5 International Laws and conventions------47

10.0 Conclusion &Implications------48

11.0 11.0Appendices ------50

11.1 Questionnaires------50

11.2 Map of Mt.Elgon------52

12.0 List of References------53

1.0 ABSTRACT

Family disintegration during war leaves women and girls especially vulnerable to violence (State of the World‟s children 1996)

While men are soldiers and aggressors in armed conflict and women constitute the highest number of civilian casualties, these roles do not tell the whole story. The popular perception about gender roles during armed conflict is that women remain at home to support, nurse and provide other services to the men at war while men go out to fight. But men are also victims of the war. And women‟s bodies become under attack as a way to intimidate the enemy and in the case of ethnic conflicts, to destroy or damage male honor, purity of lineage, kinship structures and ethnic identities. It is worth noting that gender relations that existed before war or conflict are highlighted during this period and that gendered impacts of armed conflict affect men, women and children but differently. Furthermore, impacts of armed conflict are not recognized as violations of human rights especially when they are looked at from a cultural framework where sexual violence is understood as a war weapon .Lack of recognition of these human right violations hinder progress towards enforcing regulations protecting human rights and procuring the attainment of gender equality in times of peace and in times of conflict.

This paper identifies the root causes of conflict in Mount Elgon, by analyzing its gendered and the socio-economic effects, and how they affect men, women and children and how sexual violence is used by both the militia/rebels and the government security forces on unarmed civilians. It also highlights government‟s role in exacerbating conflicts. The paper concludes by recommending 1) That the Government must resettle displaced persons so they can resume their disrupted lives, 2) that the land question in Kenya and specifically in Mount Elgon must be addressed in order to build long lasting peace, and 3) that reforms should be carried out within the government security forces especially on how to respect the human rights of the civilians and how to deal with gender equity during conflicts.

2.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Since independence, the Land question in Kenya has always been over ownership, titling and unequal distribution. The recurrent conflicts in various parts of Kenya reflect politicization of land ownership and the Government‟s inability or unwillingness to resolve the dispute. The impunity and corruption by government officials, the persistent marginalization of some ethnic groups by the political establishment have always exacerbated the conflict. However, emphasis on land ownership by the Mosop and Soy ethnic groups always overshadow the negative impacts conflicts have on women, children and other vulnerable groups. Land is a very important resource in the lives of most people, an asset and a collateral for securing loans from commercial banks and a means of maintaining identity, social status and feelings of ancestral „belonging‟. This explains the strong emotional attachment to land by the people and the violence used in the land conflict .Given the crucial role land plays in the lives of the residents of Mount Elgon and to a large extend, the nation of Kenya it is therefore important to address issues that lead to conflict over land acquisition and ownership and to mitigate against negative effects that cause conflicts.

While conflict causes suffering in all members of the community, gender defines different ways in which men and women experience conflict, for instance; women are subjected to rape and men are usually the targets of both the rebels or the government forces by being detained, sodomized, castrated or killed as was the case in Mount Elgon. Sexual assault on women during war/conflict erodes the fabric of community in a way that few weapons can. Wood (2002) argues that systematic rape is often used as a weapon of war in ethnic cleansing or forced to bear „enemy‟s child‟. Those who become pregnant are ostracized by families and communities, some women abandon babies while others commit suicide. There is a strong communal reaction to the violation and pain stamped on entire families .The harm inflicted through rape is not only an attack on a woman but on her family and culture. But men too are subject to victimization and violence including sexualized violence El Jack (2003)

Both men and women suffer war abuses and traumas as well as disruption and loss of resources. The impact of these losses is experienced in different but distinct ways as will be explained in this paper. States and organizations persistently fail to enforce international laws and conventions designed to protect human rights of women and promote gender equality.

Governments, NGOs or multilaterals have been slow to tackle the escalation of women‟s human rights abuses particularly during armed conflict (Moser and Clark,2000). There is a need for special training for the security forces to teach them how to handle conflicts without resorting to sexual violence and to make them aware of the impact they have on the civil population. At the same time, Governments must make efforts to compensate the victims and support them with counseling and other services. Governments must enforce international codes of law by condemning rape as a crime against humanity and bring perpetrators to justice. Wood ,(2006)reminds us that sexual violence remains a horrifying aspect of war. Understanding the determinants of its variation may help define policies better and able to curtail this savage form of violence that targets the most vulnerable civilians often with the intention to ruin them for life.

3.0. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my appreciation to the Ford Foundation for awarding me a scholarship to study at Brandeis University and therefore an opportunity to write this paper. I would like to thank Heller school of Social policy and Management and the entire faculty and administrative department as well as my fellow students for their moral, physical and spiritual support while writing this paper which in a way is a testimony of my witnessing the atrocities committed in my community and the resultant gross violation of human rights. This paper would not have been written without the support, guidance and constant patience of Professor Maria Cristina Espinosa who helped me to find my voice and to analyze this problem that is part of my experience. The information in this paper would have been incomplete without the input of the community of Mount Elgon in Kenya, for their willingness to talk about their horrible experiences and the Police department in Kenya for accepting to be interviewed and clarifying some points Finally, my sincere love and gratitude to my dear family for their support, patience and prayers during my absence from them.

4.0. ABREVIATIONS AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome CBO Community Based Organization CEDAW Commission for the Elimination of All form of Discrimination Against Women DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ECP Escolapapau EACJ East African Court of Justice HIV Human Immuno-Virus HRW Human Rights Watch ICC International Criminal Court ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda IPDS- Internally Displaced Persons KNCHR Kenya National Commission on Human Rights KNLA Kenya National Land Alliance MSF Medicines Sans Frontiers OHCHR- Office of the High Commission on Human Rights PA Protected Areas PRSP- Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. SALW-- Small Arms and Light Weapons SLDF Sabaot Land Defense Force TJRC Truth and Justice Reconciliation Commission UN- United Nations UNDP – United Nations Development Program DPCDSD Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development UNFPA United Nations Fund for Population Activities

UNICEF United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UN Children‟s Fund). UNSC United Nations Security Council WHO World Health Organization

5.0 INTRODUCTION

The conflict in Mount Elgon district is part of a long history of the Sabaot community (Soy and Dorobo) in the form of colonial expropriation of their ancestral land without compensation, which was continued by post-colonial governments. Land conflicts in Mount Elgon are not isolated but are linked to systematic disputes and tensions. Local disputes are linked to intra- community tensions, unpopular registration of forest and land tenure system. All these are characterized by the misuse of political power through patronage networks and as a result, too many tensions remain unaddressed. The conflicts in Mount Elgon have always been over land ownership yet the gender inequalities are exacerbated during periods of armed conflicts and continue during post conflict. The main objective of the paper is to identify the root causes of the conflicts in Mount Elgon district of Western province in Kenya and to highlight the gendered effects of these land conflict.

5.1 Definition of the Development question Land tenure refers to the terms and conditions under which rights to land and land-based resources are acquired, retained, used, disposed of or transmitted. Land tenure regimes in Kenya are fragmented, complex and political). As in the case of Trust Land (under Trust Land Act) land rights are quite indeterminate. Overlapping land rights and insecure tenure presents a problem for land management and leads to conflicts. (KLA, 2004). The inter-ethnic land conflict in Mount Elgon therefore stems from a complex mix of land disputes, political manipulation as well as corruption with its roots originating in the colonial era. At independence, the process was legalized with the implementation of an individual freehold title registration system at the expense of customary mechanism of land tenure. The British colonial Government‟s seizure of land coupled with Kenya Governments repeated failures to resettle people led to dispossession that created long running land grievances (KNLA,2006) (Okoth- Ogendo,1996).These grievances were exacerbated by the rise of a militia group called Sabaot land Defense Force (SLDF) and the Government‟s subsequent deployment of the military to intervene and stop the violence. Besides loss of lives, rape and other forms of torture, there were massive displacements of the local people leading to the creation of internally displaced persons (IDPs).The conflict seriously hampered agricultural activity since farmers moved away from their fields, posing long term risks for the community‟s food security .Education and health

10 sector were also compromised by the larger scale displacement of professionals. This was exacerbated by the fact that women who culturally are not allowed to own land since land belongs to the man bore the brunt of the conflict. However, by virtue of the indiscriminate nature of conflicts and pre-existing gender hierarchies and ideologies, both men and women were affected differently by the conflict. In this context, this paper aims to answer the following question: What are the gendered effects of inter-ethnic violence associated with land conflict in Mt. Elgon? In other words, how has the inter-ethnic land conflict and the subsequent military interventions in Mount Elgon district differently affected men and women as well as children and how does this impact on the overall development of the region? To answer the question, I will address the following issues a) What are the effects of inter-ethnic land violence on women, men and children? b) What are the socio-cultural and economic effects of the conflicts and how do they impact on men and women? c) How is sexual violence used as a weapon of war? d) In concluding I shall discuss the key strategies and options for minimizing and resolving the conflicts over land, to promote long term stability and peaceful co-existence among the Soy and Dorobo clans, and how can these local ethnic groups and how can the gendered impacts of conflicts associated with land issues be mitigated

5.2 Contribution to the development field

In addition to the overall objective of the case study, my study during the second year aimed to:

Broadly understand the gendered nature of land conflicts and its impacts on women, children and men as well as the impacts on livelihoods and social structures and to enhance my understanding of the different impacts of conflicts on gender. To identify the role of conflict resolution and negotiation interventions in resolving the inter-ethnic land conflicts and to develop advocacy skills that would lead to reconciliation and co-existence Enhance my understanding of how culture and ethnicity intersect with gender and influence conflict as well as peace process and negotiation. To identify the proliferation of small arms and their role in exacerbating conflicts.

To understand how policies and cultural practices influence key decisions in regard to land issues in Kenya. During my field practice as a project Coordinator for an advocacy Project for World Vision Kenya, I encountered many cases of women especially widows who were deliberately left out during the vetting of land applications because of their gender. This resulted in women being caught up in conflict yet they didn‟t own any piece of land to begin with. This paper therefore will give recommendations for inclusion of policies that would recognize the inclusion of women in land ownership and inheritance pertaining to the importance of women owning resources if they have to participate fully in development.

5.3*Context of the study Having studied all the gender courses in my first year, I set out to link gender and conflict. Thus my second year course of study, included taking courses in the Co-existence Program I took Conflict Resolution by Negotiation, Development, Aid and Co-existence and Humanitarian Assistance in Complex Emergencies offered by the (Tufts University) consortium. My intention was to find out about the gendered effects of conflict.

I witnessed sporadic inter-ethnic conflicts while growing up in Mount Elgon. I also had the advantage of having worked for a development agency in the area thus was able to witness events first hand. This case study focus on the land conflict of 2006-2008 in Mount Elgon district in Kenya and on the suffering of the residents of the area in the hands of both the militia group known as SLDF and the Government‟s security agents. While working for an Advocacy agency, I witnessed women and children suffering over lack of access to land. At the same time, the residents could not engage in any productive work since they were engaged in vetting process to ascertain genuine squatters to be resettled. The process affected our development work in the area since it was impossible to mobilize the target groups and involve in the developmental activities. In the end conflict broke out and it disrupted our activities leading to the closure of the program.

6.0 BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENT

6.1 Geographical Background

Mount Elgon district is Located in the slopes of Mount Elgon in the Western Province of Kenya. It is named after Mount Elgon, the second largest mountain in the country after (Mt.Kenya) with an estimated population of 150,997 people (Kenya Population Census, 2009). The district which is divided into 4 divisions borders Uganda to the west and has very rich, fertile volcanic soil, suitable for agriculture. The Sabaot(Soy and Dorobo clans) a sub tribe of the Kalenjin ethnic group comprises 95% , while the Bukusu, Teso and Kikuyu are the minority ethnic groups that all together represent 5% of this total population. The district which is named after the second largest mountain in Kenya is located in the lush and fertile slopes of the dormant volcanic mountain Mount Elgon. It receives rainfall throughout the year and since 3/4 of the land is covered by forest there is only ¼ for farming and human habitation. Among the economic activities practiced by the community for livelihood are subsistence farming, livestock keeping and bee keeping for honey. The community sells part of its rich harvest in the neighboring districts but at very low prices because of poor marketing strategies occasioned by lack of infrastructure and high illiteracy rates. While the community has a rich culture, it also favors harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation and early marriage

The district has illiteracy rates of 76 % for men and 96% for women which is higher than the National averages of 81.36% males and 65.74% females respectively (PRSP, 2000). Report 2008).The district lags behind in development mainly because of high illiteracy rates leading to poverty and persistent inter-clan conflicts over land ownership in the absence of no other source of income. Behind the beautiful scenery lies a community that has been traumatized and in the process of recovering from the effects of inter clan land dispute that escalated into full blown conflict that led to the military intervention that was aimed at of disarming the warring groups and restoring order.

6.2 Genesis of Conflict

Population in Kenya has resulted in intense competition for access to land and natural resources leading to frequent tensions and conflicts between different clans or ethnic groups. The Land question in Question in Mount Elgon is characterized by many conflicts has resulted in about 600 dead and more than 45,000 Internally Displaced Persons –IDPs (KLA, 2004). The conflicts dates back to pre-colonial days in the 1930s when the white settlers favored agriculture and so occupied the fertile and rich highlands which they named „The White Highlands‟ in Rift Valley, Western and Central Provinces thus displacing the local people. In 1932, the Colonial government moved the Sabaot from Trans Nzoia to Mount Elgon forest to create white highlands. At the time of independence, a constitution drafted during the Lancaster conference in London and which Kenyan leaders participated, legalized the individual freehold title registration system at the expense of customary law mechanisms of land tenure (Kenya National Land Draft Policy 2006) This was to protect the white settler property rights in total disregard to the original owners of the lands. The conflict can be traced back to the state schemes which regulated access to land ownership that were perpetuated by political favoritisms and the unfair methods of land distribution. The main conflict is as a result of repeated allocations and evictions which gave rise to frustrations and dissatisfaction. To meet people‟s demand for farming land, a committee of elders co-opted by the Government authorities organized land distribution operation, but rivalries arose later over ownership of this expansive land pitying two clans –the Soy and Ndorobo clans. Pressure from community led to the settlement and clearance of more extensive forest zone than the legally delimited area in the 1980s.In 1989, complaints about land allocation prompted Government to reorganize the distribution of the farming land. But the government, keen to preserve Mount Elgon forest and to conserve the ecosystem, moved the Ndorobo to the lower part of the mountain-leading to the creation of Chepyuk settlement scheme phase I. The three phases which occupy about 21,000 acres was to be divided between the two clans. The idea was to turn the Ndorobo into agriculturalists to help them overcome the perpetual hunger/starvation they faced every year. It worked but culturally, the Ndorobo were totally alienated.

Such were the changes that impacted on the Ndorobo prompting the elders to petition the government for more land specifically for this group. The Government yielded and hived off more forest land to create phase two. However, during the exercise, portions were never gazetted out of forest land therefore no title deeds were ever issued. The Soy seeing the Ndorobo benefitting petitioned the then President Moi for more land. The resettlement exercise was done in three phases spanning over three decades. Despite the challenges faced in the resettlement of phases 1 and 2, the exercises were completed successfully. . However, phase three was surrounded by controversy due to claims of huge chunks of land by traditional and spiritual leaders yet the government intention was to allocate equal sizes to all the deserving cases.

7.0 METHODS

7.1 Secondary Review

The evidence presented in this paper was obtained by using methods for collecting secondary and qualitative data as well as my own personal experience–including witnessing murders and tortures. I also visited Internally Displaced Persons Camp (IDPs) and interviewed some of my relatives who hosted the displaced persons. Field research included interviewing key government officers such as the Kenya‟s Police Spokesmen, community leaders and church leaders two local politicians, 3 widows and school children. Later I met one victim who narrated her ordeal to me. I conducted 2 Focus Group groups one for men and one for women, including both the perpetrators and victims and some women who were members of the women grassroots organization. While the women were relatively more free to talk and share their experiences without inhibition, men were a bit hesitant and reserved, as if they didn‟t want to give too much information away. Women narrated how they were pleased when the government deployed the military thinking it would mean the end of violence, only to be subjected to rape and other gross forms of torture worse than the ones they received from SLDF

Secondary review included scholarly articles, journals, books, case studies and media reports like newspapers, television channels. I also reviewed online documents and research articles relevant to the topics and reports from relief agencies that worked in the area e.g. Medicines Sans Frontiers, Red Cross, Action Aid, Human Rights.

7.2. My Personal experience

I experienced conflict directly as a member of the Sabaot community in Mt.Elgon. The 2006-8 violence was however too intense, brutal and shocking. I personally experienced the sporadic and intermittent attacks until they turned into full scale violence leading to many deaths, injuries and displacements and lasted for two years. Having witnessed the devastating effects of conflict on the development of the community has driven me to address the negative impact of land conflicts and try to propose a solution .Having worked for an advocacy Program, I faced the challenge of engaging for development activities since most community members were engaged in land vetting process that were part of land scheme. The process seemed to progress

16 well until the distribution list was made public where many landless people were left out while those already having land elsewhere were included. This created a huge backlash and led to the rise of SLDF and the conflict and violence presented in this paper.

At the same time, gender inequalities in Mount Elgon were manifested through resource allocations. In my work experience, I noticed that although women were the ones providing most of the labor force, they did not own any property because all the property belonged to the spouse or the male relatives in case of widows. During meetings that we held for community members, we observed that although women were in attendance, they did not contribute to the discussions, and if they, they were never considered. Furthermore, women did not participate in decisions which were made. Most decisions made by those with greater power. It was therefore difficult to involve all stakeholders in any development activities.

7.3 Limitations

There were limitations and constraints that I encountered. There was bias in information delivery depending on one‟s inclination and vested interests. For instance rape victims could not divulge the rape ordeal they underwent because of fear or embarrassment or simply because of the cultural aspects that forbid the mentioning of matters to do with sex in public while others were too traumatized to talk about the ordeal. Those who were suspected of committing the atrocities didn‟t want to be identified because of the legal implications most of them went into hiding, it was therefore difficult to trace them. Some information was grossly exaggerated for example the types of treatments that were claimed by the victims were denied by the security agents were horrible but there was no way of verifying them.

Secondly, the conflict in Mount Elgon is recent and much of the literature are reports from the organizations that were working in the area and from the mainstream newspapers and television channels. Very few journals have been written on the same

8.0. LITERATURE REVIEW.

8.1 Land Conflict in Kenya: An Overview

Kenya is a fragmented nation characterized by shared knowledge, interests and activities as well as conflicts. A key dimension of difference has continued to be ethnicity which is kept alive by the way resources especially land have historically been divided up and allocated to different ethnic groups(Wimmer,2009;Simiyu,2008) .Throughout Kenya‟s political and cultural history, tribal identity emerged as an outcome of different population movement, settlement patterns and changing modes of production. Ethnic belonging in Kenya was further bolstered by historical memories of injustices and violence. In pre-colonial Kenya, sedentary and pastoral population groups both fought and coexisted harmoniously. This was however shattered by the establishment of the colonial government. In pre-colonial Kenya, white settlers dominated most of the productive lands which were taken over by the elite Africans .They created new groups that have kept the resistance alive where communities have attempted to redress historical grievances often resulting in violence.

Kenya, as is the case with many other developing countries is characterized by certain ethno political configurations of power thus the reason why it is to experiences violent conflicts (Frederiksen, 2010).The state in Kenya has been blamed for lack of neutrality since state institutions and politicians have played ambiguous roles in the conflict. The government‟s inability or unwillingness to resolve grievances has been identified as cause of tensions and conflicts while its lack of neutrality has continued to incite feelings of resentment among the ethnic groups who are not represented by the state. Land grievances also occur in a context of population growth, poor governance and socio-economic insecurity (Okoth-Ogendo1991; Kenya Land Alliance, 2006)

Land grievances resulting from colonial dispossession were aggravated by the first Kenya‟s President who maintained the freehold system without questioning how the land was acquired in the first place (Theisen, 2009;Kabukuru,2010).This coupled with political patronage and ethno-politics precluded a solution to the land question. To try to compensate the displaced, the government opened a settlement scheme based on a market system which was biased towards those with financial means to acquire the land. The whole exercise was riddled with corruption, supported patronage networks and favored only certain communities. Tensions were

18 further aggravated by the second president who continued with the system. Corruption and rampant land grabbing, undermined the customary mechanism of land governance, while growing hardships for the majority of poor combined with rapid population growth increased pressure on the country‟s arable land (Kenya Land Alliance, 2004).

8.2 Historical background of Land Conflict in Mount Elgon District –Kenya. .

Historical injustices related to colonial occupation of the Sabaot communal lands and competition over scarce land resources in the post- colonial era were caused in part by inequitable distribution and access patterns, but also population growth aggravating intra and intercommunity tensions and conflict escalation in Mount Elgon (Simiyu, 2008). Several mismanaged allocations and reallocations of land have taken place since 1974 when the area was originally hived off for forest dwelling Dorobo in exchange to their original home land in the high altitude moorland within the gazetted forest reserve. The poorly managed procedures and corrupted practices in the original allocation was complicated by a general rush to the area after the forest was opened up for farming (Himmelfarb, 2005; Soini, 2007; KLA, 2006).Furthermore, the Global expansion of protected areas has been acute in Africa. The area of land under legal protection has increased since 1970 ( Brockington and Schmidt –Soltau, 2004).Central to the establishment of these new Protected Areas, has been a philosophy of nature protectionism under which all human use of protected resource is prohibited (Himmelfarb,2005:Burgerhoff and Coppolillo2005;Chatty and Colchasten,2002).Such strict protectionism has often been coupled with the wholesale displacement of vast populations who depended on those resources now fenced off for conservation. In order to acknowledge the extend of the land scarcity in the area, it is important to understand that Mount Elgon Forest was gazette in 1974 as part of Kenya‟s National System of Protected Areas.1

8.3 Role of SALW in Conflict.

Other factors yet largely ignored that have contributed to the tensions in the area include a history of violence and militianization due to the availability of small arms and light weapons (SALW).Other determinants such as inter-intra community rivalry, ethno nationalist politics, insecurity, uncertainty of land tenure, economic stagnation of the local economy,

1 Protected Area-location which receive protection because of their environmental, or cultural value

19 feelings of marginalization and declining state presence in the region have contributed to fuel the conflicts in the area (Simiyu, 2008).The 2006-8 conflict in Mt.Elgon is a culmination of a long history of the Sabaot community‟s struggle against historical injustices like the usurpation of their ancestral land without compensation by either the colonial government or successive post –colonial governments. Previously, the struggle in Mt.Elgon has been expressed through exclusive ethno-nationalist politics where ethnicity plays an important role in Kenyan politics with episodic aggression against non-Sabaot in Mt Elgon including the Teso and Bukusu as well as Kikuyu who had were “outsiders but had bought land on a willing seller/willing buyer terms(Simiyu,2008). Failure by successive governments to address the land question therefore, in a comprehensive inclusive and pro-active manner has exacerbated the problem. The historical injustices also created land scarcity and made political patronage the surest way to communal as well as individual access to land ownership. This led to intense competition between various social groups and many local political elite for patronage of resources at rural level. The government used part of the protected forest to distribute among the landless squatters and resulted inendless cycle of petitions and counter petitions leading to allocations and annulments of previous allocations as well as evictions (Kenya Land Alliance, 2004) .

The subsequent Government„s deployment of the military to quell the violence exacerbated the situation. The heavy handed methods by the military on the local residents led to accusations by the community, Human rights organizations and the media of gross human rights violations on the communities to which it claims affiliation (Simiyu, 2008), Apart from torture, the conditions in which suspects were held during pre-trial detention and the violent response of the military made matters worse for the already traumatized civilian population (MSF,2008). On the other hand, the government representative argued that the local residents supported the operation. This was true at the beginning when people felt that the military would target the militia and restore order. The military turned out worse.

8.4 Effects of Land conflicts on Mt.Elgon Community

The effects of the land conflict in Mount Elgon are social, economic and political .An estimated 600 people are believed to have died in the two –year conflict and many cases of sexual violence including rape, torture and assault. Over 600 men are believed to have been castrated. Violence accompanied by destruction of property, burning of houses and looting led to massive displacement of people who ended up in Internally Displaced Persons camps (IDPs), (Theisen,2009; Simiyu;2008;Kenya Police Inquiry Report, 2008).There were cases where those in displacement camps were insecure because the militia threatened to attack them. The threats invoked memories of the Goma refugee camp in Democratic Republic of Congo who were attacked (Wakaba,200815-16,) At the same time agricultural and economic activities were disrupted, and markets distorted, since prices were either too high or goods were not available in affected areas due to insecurity. This made food unavailable for local people and created a dependency on aid from relief agencies. Disruption of infrastructure led to closure of schools, interrupting the delivery of essential services especially in hospitals and the transport system was also disrupted due to insecurity.

8.4.1 Forced Displacement

Forced displacement is the clearest violation of human, economic, political and social rights of failure to comply with international laws (Moser, and Clark,2001:32)People have often been uprooted from their homelands due to political religious ,cultural and ethnic persecution during conflict. Displacement is a source of human rights violation and results in distinct types of disadvantage for both women and men. Displacement brings out Gender differentiation in how men, women, boys and girls and girls are affected. For instance, women and girls have unique needs and the lack of privacy may exacerbate their suffering. The IDPs are not protected by international laws and the international community has limited options to protect people displaced within their own borders if their home country is willing to cooperate. The legal status of IDPs continue to be a serious concern (WHO,2001:23).

8.5 Effects of violence on children and other vulnerable groups.

Millions of children are caught up in the conflicts in which they are not merely bystanders but targets. Some fall victims to general onslaught against civilians, others die as part of a calculated genocide as was the case in Rwanda, while yet others suffer the effects of sexual violence or the multiple deprivation of armed conflict that exposes them to hunger or diseases, many are also exploited as combatants(UN Rapporteur ,1996;UNICEF,1996).Millions of children; are caught up in conflicts in which they are not merely bystanders but targets .Many fall victims to general onslaught against civilians, others die as part of calculated genocide as in the case of Rwanda, while yet others suffer the effects of sexual violence or the multiple deprivation of armed conflicts that exposes them to hunger or diseases. Others are exploited as combatants (UNDPCSD, 1996).War or conflict violates every right of a child, the right to life, the right to be with family and community, the right to health, the right to development of personality and the right to be nurtured and protected(UNICEF,1996). However, lack of the most basic human values have created situations where children are slaughtered, raped, maimed and exploited as soldiers, most are starved exposed to extreme brutality. Although children depend on adults for protection, they are disproportionately affected by conflict. Thus, in armed conflicts, children become targets and perpetrators of violence. Almost half of the world‟s 21 million refugees are children, with 13 million displaced within the borders their own country. It is believed that up to 300,000 children and boys in particular, are coerced or induced to take up arms as child soldiers. (UNDPCSD, 1996) Cases abound in Mount Elgon where youths between 9-19 years were kidnapped from school and forced to kill their own relatives to „harden‟ their feelings. In those cases, they would kill indiscriminately (Kenya Police Report, 2008).Old people also became targets when they were left behind by fleeing family members. Few suffered death as a result of neglect (KNCHR,2008).

8.6. Sexual Violence as a weapon of War.

Sex and sexual slavery during periods of conflict have consequences for gender relations. Women in conflict zones are sometimes driven to provide sexual services to the soldiers in order to survive. While sexual violence occurs in all wars, it occurs to varying extent and takes distinct forms. There are different kinds of rape and the motivation to rape are well documented, for instance, sexual violence may be systematically carried out for the purposes of destabilizing populations; destroying bonds within communities and lineages and kinship. (Enloe, 2000;Wood, 2006,). In most conflict situations, and violence the government‟s neutrality is missing. Reports instead show that the government knowledge, participation and resulting responsibility for sexual victimization makes it complicit in many conflicts and government agents many times are perpetrators (Moser et al, 2005).

Military rape is directly related to the state‟s national security or defense or an insurgent‟s military arm Violence against women especially rape has added its own brand of shame to recent wars. Sexual violence may also be used by state organs to quell resistance by instilling fear in local communities or in opposing groups (Enloe,2000:109). This was pronounced in Mt.Elgon when the military instilled fear in the community and raped the women. Sexual violence is also manifested by men who feel that they have lost the ability to protect their women from the enemy, many compensate by exercising violent control over women at home (State of the World Children Report,1996). Gender distinctions during war are created by developing members of the community into soldiers and to become men, boys must be warriors ,thus the societies‟ need for warriors results in universal rituals of manhood that include physical courage ,endurance ,strength, self-control and obedience. The gendered formation of soldiers thus rests on particular ideas of manhood. Soldiers then represent domination of the enemy in a gendered way, leading to use of specifically sexual violence not only against the enemy women, but also men who are dominated through male rape and castration (UNSC 1994; Wood, 1996)).

When gender relations are patriachical, women‟s inferior social status is maintained by the state and other institutions including the use of aid to perpetrate sexual violence in particular. Some authors address that sexual violence increases during war because usually

23 gender roles become more polarized, but in many civil wars, gender roles become less polarized because village hierarchies break down as population dispense and women and men take on tasks normally carried out by the other gender. The argument seems to imply that sexual violence should be more prevalent where traditional gender norms are more disrupted. In war time, the role of the state and other institutions tend to break down as their presence is weaker. In the absence, men resort more frequently to violence to enforce gender roles (Wimmer, 2009).

From conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Peru to Rwanda, girls and women have been singled out for rape, imprisonment, torture and execution. Rape identified by psychologists as the most intrusive traumatic events, has been documented in many armed conflicts including those in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cyprus, Haiti, Liberia, Somalia and Uganda. Systematic rape is used as a weapon of war in “ethnic cleansing” for example, more than 20,000 Muslim girls and women were raped in Bosnia since fighting began in 1992(UNICEF, State of the World children Report,1996). While women of all ethnicities were raped, the abuse of Bosnian Muslim women by Bosnian Serb forces was so systematic as to comprise a crime against humanity under international law (UNSC,1994) .An estimated 23,200 to 45,000 Kosovar - Albanian women are believed to have been raped between august 1998 and august 1999 at the height of conflict with Serbia(State of the World Children,1996).In Rwanda, the widespread rape of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu women comprised a form of genocide (ICTR,1994).

Democratic Republic Of Congo

Humanitarian aid workers from Eastern Congo reported during the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo that rape was becoming more violent and common place (Wakaba 2008:15,).The forms of sexual violence on women included gang rapes , abductions for sexual slavery ,purposeful mutilation of women‟s genitalia and killings of rape victim, shooting of women through the vagina, and shoving broken bottles or corn cobs into the woman‟s genitalia after the rape. There were cases where family members were forced to participate. Cases also abound of male relatives being forced at gun point to rape their daughters, mothers and sisters. Rape of the enemy woman would be both for revenge and

24 restoration of loss of honor and manhood through the total humiliation of the enemy (UNSC, 1994; Narmark 1994:113-4; Wood,2004).Eye witness accounts report several groups being involved in the sexual violence including government soldiers and the local armed militia (Hagan,et al1995;Wakabi,2008:15-16) Reports suggested that 20% of all victims suffered irreparable damage to their genitals after the assault(Ertük,2008:14).Similar cases were reported in Mt.Elgon where crude weapons were inserted in the women‟s genitalia(MSF,2008;KNCHR,2008)Extra insults are often associated with public atrocity ,where sexual violence is enacted in a display before family or community members. Many rapes in DRC were concluded by the insertion of sticks into the vaginas of women.

Sierra Leone & Liberia

In 2003, 74% of a random sample of 388 Liberian refugee women living in camps in Sierra Leone reported being sexually abused prior to being displaced from their homes in Liberia and 55% of them experienced sexual violence during displacement (State of The World Children Report,(1996).Women in Liberia reported to have been beaten, tied up or detained. Of the 106 women and girls accused of belonging to an opposing ethnic group,; 65 of them (61%) reported they were beaten ,locked up or strip searched or subjected to attempted rape compared with 27 (27%) of the 99 women who were not accused of belonging to any ethnic group.(Amowitz,2005) Girls and women who were forced to cook for soldiers or fighters were more likely to report experiencing rape ,attempted rape or sexual coercion than those who were not forced to cook i.e. 55% vs.10 % of young women under 25 years or older to report experiencing attempted rape and sexual coercion 18% vs. 4%(Swiss, 1998).

Based on results of a study undertaken in 2000, researchers concluded that approximately 50,000 to 64,000 internally displaced women may have been sexually victimized during the Sierra Leone protracted armed conflict (State of the World Children). Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone war in 1991 was extremely brutal. Gang rapes were committed with very young victims enduring gang rapes with rebels lining up to take turns Cases of reported pregnancies were 9% of the raped women (Amowitz 2002:517).Young

25 women were targeted because they were presumed virgins, female rebels occasionally checked the virginity of detained females (HRW 1995).Victims reported perpetrators wanting sex with a virgin, wanting a new wife or to use them to send a message to government/opposition. Older women suffered sexual assault including women who were past the menopausal age biologically; for whom it broke a particular cultural taboo against sexual activity among this group. A particular form of sexual violence in Sierra Leone was the detention of girls and women for long periods of time as slaves serving at rebel camps or a particular rebel group. In some cases, they underwent forced marriage with a particular person. Up to 33% were abducted, 15% forced to serve as sexual slaves and 9% were forced to marry a captor (Amowitz et al 2002).

In the Vietnam War, in addition to rape, US marines assault included inserting flares into the vaginas of North Vietnamese Army nurses after raping them. The Ex-servicemen reported that they were not only encouraged but shown how to drive objects to female genitals organs by their instructors. In Pakistan victims had their genitals stabbed after rape (Sharlach,2000:95).In the attack of Nanking in Japan during the World War II fathers were forced to rape their own daughters at gunpoint (Browmiller,1975:5a ), (Ertük,2008:12).

Darfur & Uganda

In Darfur, Sudan, women were frequently raped in front of other village members who were forced to clap and cheer as militia members took turns (Human Rights Wach,2005: Human Rights Watch,2006).Again such public performances were often followed by the murder of all those involved. Medicines Sans Frontier reported to have treated almost 500 rape victims in Darfur Sudan. 19% of Burundian women surveyed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFP) in 2004 had been raped and 40 % had heard about or had witnessed the rape of a minor (Ward and Marsh, 2006).Many women in Uganda lost the eligibility to get married as well as access to agricultural livelihood when they were raped and tortured by soldiers during the war (Turshen, 2008; Wood, 2006).

8.7. International Laws, Resolutions and Conventions

States and organizations persistently fail to enforce international laws and conventions designed to protect human rights of women and promote gender equality. Assistance providers

26 eg Governments, NGOs or multilaterals have been slow to tackle the escalation of women‟s human rights abuses, particularly during armed conflict (El Jack,2002).Kenya is a signatory to a number of International statutes and conventions. By signing and ratifying these conventions, Kenya affirms its commitment to undertake all its commitments and obligations. It also emphasizes the need to implement fully international humanitarian and human rights laws that protects the rights of women and girls during and after conflicts. However, the conflict in Mt.Elgon violated a number of the international Statutes since many crimes against humanity were perpetrated including and not limited to murder, extermination, torture ,rape ,sexual slavery massive displacement and enforced prostitution. However, the international community has limited options to protect people displaced within their own borders if their home country is not willing to cooperate .The legal status of IDPs continue to be a serious concern (Adopted from WHO,2001:23).

8.7.1. The UN Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (1994),Expresses concern that civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally displaced persons, and increasingly are targeted by combatants and armed elements, and recognizing the consequent impact this has on durable peace and reconciliation, it also affirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace- building, and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision- making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution.(UNSCResolution1325,1994)The Resolution however, does not provide much guidance on what „Gender perspective “consists of, and where the term “gender “is used, it is used interchangeably with „women and girls‟. It denies many of the gender concerns that arise in armed conflict. These concerns require understanding of how existing power imbalances between women and men are experienced during and after armed conflict and how these inequalities might be removed to improve gender relations.

8.7.2. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002).

Kenya is a signatory of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and is bound by all its obligations. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court at the Hague

27 is a treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).The Permanent International tribunal was meant to prosecute individuals who commit genocide or other serious international crimes. The Rome Statute recognizes the fact that women, children and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities similar to the ones committed in Mount Elgon by both the SLDF and the security agents. The statute determines to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against humanity by emphasizing the fact that statutes have a responsibility to exercise criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for crimes. In this respect, Part II (c), the Statue identifies crimes within the jurisdiction of the court which defines crimes against humanity as enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deportation of physical liberty in isolation of fundamental rules of international law, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence and finally disappearance of persons. An example is The international Criminal Tribunal‟s verdict in the Jean Akeyesu case accused of genocide in Rwanda (ICTR, 1994) and identified rape as an “integral part of the process of destruction “outlawed by the genocide Convention.

8.7.3 OHCHR Declaration on the Protection of women in Emergency and Armed Conflict (1974)

Declared by the UN General Assembly Resolution 3318(XXIX) of 14 December 1974.by expressing deep concern over the suffering of women and children belonging to the civilian population who in periods of armed conflict are too often the victims of inhuman acts and consequently suffer serious harm. The UN therefore calls for the need to provide special protection on women and children belonging to the civilian population.

8.7.4. The East Africa Court of Justice.

The East African Court of Justice came into force in 2000 under Article9 of the treaty for the establishment of the East Africa Community. It is an international which ensures that adherence to the law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the treaty.

8.7.5The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) established in 1979 is an agreement that affirms principles of fundamental principles of human rights and equality for women around the world. It guarantees the right to all women to be free from discrimination and sets out obligations for states parties designed to ensure legal and practical enjoyment of those rights (OHCHR,1999 ).

8.7.6. Truth and Justice Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).

The Establishment of the TJRC two years after the conflict in Kenya provided an opportunity to investigate human Rights abuses, historical injustices, illegal or irregular acquisition of land and the misuse of political powers dating back to independence in 1963 to the present. The main purpose of the commission is to investigate the root causes of the conflicts, bring those responsible to justice and recommend preventive measures as well as reconciling the warring

9.0 FINDINGS AND SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION

9.1. The Gendered impacts of armed conflict.

The gendered relations are characterized by unequal access to resources and power. Gender analysis in armed conflict highlights the difference between women and men in terms of their gendered roles and activities, their needs, their power and control of resources and their access to decision making processes even in post conflict situations(UNDP 2000).Women still suffer discriminations even in the absence of conflict especially in regard to resource allocation. Men too who have no financial means to own land are equally unjustly treated. These tensions are exacerbated in times of conflict. During this period, women are forcefully mobilized to participate for instance when they provide services like cooking, cleaning and sex to the militia. Because of the social construction of their identities and gendered roles as mothers and‟ guardians of culture‟ women are perceived to be weak and need protection. This protection has failed in many instances as is in the case of Mount Elgon where the military was accused of sexually abusing women while on a peace keeping mission. Even in situations where women are seen as aggressors and active combatants or in direct support of the armed conflict, they still experience discrimination due to the unequal power structures that govern their relationships with men. Men too are forcefully recruitment into the army by the rebels and many times are forced to kill their own relatives.

At the same time, States do not take responsibility for the crime its military commit and instead shifts blame toward others. Documented evidence show that The Kenya Military Forces engaged in operation called “Operation Okoa Maisha” (Operation Save Lives) were accused of using systematic torture to extract information from local citizens not involved in the SLDF activities The police categorically deny that the security agents were involved in gross violations of human rights that included rape and murders and other forms of torture. Instead they insist that the operation was successful in that it restored peace and security by dismantling the SLDF militia. The Police spokesperson instead defended their actions by stating that the officers saved the people of Mt. Elgon from the atrocities of SLDF. However, victims and witnesses refute this addressing instead that the officers caused a lot of suffering to the community members.

9.2. Historical injustices and grievances

The cause of the 2007-8 post-election violence in Kenya may have been sparked by allegations of rigged elections, but underlying were recurring trends linked to the unresolved and politically aggravated land grievances since independence. Currently, most people are landless as a result of powerful people benefitting from land allocation at the expense of those with legitimate claims but without economic means or political power. The exclusion created resentment and further grievance while local politicians exploited the land issue for political gain as either defenders of their people‟s land rights or as dispensers of scarce resources( Kenya Land Alliance,2006).This pattern is common in all regions in Kenya with Mount Elgon being no exception.

Initially, land struggle in Mount Elgon, was against the „non-indigenous‟ who were mainly the Luhya, Teso and the Kikuyu. These were ethnic groups that had purchased land on willing seller /willing buyer terms. The aggressions against these ethnic groups were particularly intense during the election years when the community felt the „outsiders‟ would vote for their preferred candidate and not a local person. However, it is worth noting that these tensions were not as vicious and did not result in deaths .The two year conflict which paradoxically was between two Sabaot ethnic communities over land was vicious and resulted in more than 600 hundred deaths and over 45,000 displaced.(KNCHR,2008;Police Report on Mt.Elgon Inquiry,2008)

Since then, uncertainty and conflict regarding claims to the land titles have persisted since independence and there is wide divergence between the land register and actual patterns of use and access. For instance the sons of men excluding daughters, who received titles during the tenure reform, may establish family farms to which they themselves do not own formal title deeds. There are also many land sales, subdivisions and successions that go unrecorded and many people live on land which is titled to another person, often that person dies and different individuals continue to have overlapping access to the same parcels of land (Haugerud,1989).Further, distribution of land is unequal and over the years of questionable government ethics, large areas of land have been given out irregularly. Thus the land crisis in

Mount Elgon was two-dimensional since it took the form of a crisis of state legitimacy and a crisis of violence with ethnic connotation (Lafarge, 2009)

Secondly, the establishment of protected areas in Mount Elgon forest led to displacement of the Dorobo clan who are basically hunters and gatherers and rely on the forest for honey and fruits for livelihood. Interestingly, the Protected Areas were created without local consent or consideration of historical local land use/tenure practices and yet it affected the activities central to community‟s livelihoods i.e. collecting firewood, grazing of livestock, hunting, gathering of medicinal plants, harvesting of timber. All activities were declared illegal and what was native was reclassified as colonial land thus negating the traditional land use and attitudes (Neumann,1998 ,34:5). The protected area policing fostered land tenure insecurity and this exacerbated poverty and conflict. The mapping of protected area didn‟t take into consideration the displaced, thus forcing them to concentrate on the scarce resources available which brought about increased soil and water degradation, economic and social inequality between communities and further utilization in park resources (Scott, 1998). Furthermore, it this contributed to environmental degradation in the forms of soil, loss of water siltation and increased park revenues (Himmelfarb, 2005).When Mt.Elgon Forest boundary was resurveyed in 2005, part of the population was found to reside within the forest reserve (Soini,2007).So the government decided that they had to be evicted.

9.2.1. Government complicit in the land question

The Kenya Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR, 2008 and Simiyu,2008) truthfully point out that failure by the government to address the land tenure issue in a comprehensive, inclusive and proactive manner worsened the problem. Also, the government‟s attempt at resettlement failed because it adopted piecemeal approach where local leaders would petition the government to resettle squatters, thus starting an endless petitions and counter-petitions from the two clans; eventually, this led to allocations and annulments of previous allocations and evictions thus further exacerbating resentment between the two clans. It also created land scarcity and made political patronage the surest way to access communal and individual ownership of land, resulting in intense competition between various groups and among political

32 elites for patronage of resources at the national level. The whole process led to feelings of injustice, favoritism and social exclusion. In his analysis of the Mount Elgon conflict, Simiyu (2008) highlights the historical injustices related to colonial disinheritance of the Sabaot communal lands and competition over scarce resources in the post-colonial era, caused in part by inequitable distribution and access patterns, and the crucial factor of demographics especially increase in population, being a root cause of the inter and intra community tensions and conflict escalation. representatives ie the members of parliament and the councilors The government used part of the protected forest to distribute among the landless squatters. and resulted in , endless cycle of petitions and counter petitions leading to allocations and annulments of previous allocations as well as evictions (Kenya Land Alliance, 2004) .This created greater discontent and feelings of revenge resulting in the emergence of the dreaded militia called the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF).The rise of the SLDF signaled the collapse of state authority and subsequent violence in Mount Elgon thus demonstrating a real crisis of legitimacy(My Interview with the police spokesperson,2010). It didn‟t come as a surprise therefore when the first targets of the violence were the provincial administration represented by the chiefs, and the district officers and the members of parliament or individuals associated with the functions of government for example the land surveyors and elders vetting the applicants for land allocations.

9.2.2 Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW )in promoting militias.

The arms, acquired from the neighboring countries are readily available and sold at throw away prices in exchange for livestock. This lends credence to the reports that the resilience of the SLDF militia group was because they had sophisticated weapons. The rise of SLDF therefore was inevitably a culmination of the entire grievance and the government‟s inability or to address them. The armed SLDF militia directly challenged the legitimate government by creating a parallel structure including a defense force. The government argued that the deployment of the military was necessitated by the fact that the armed conflict was an indication of the total collapse of state authority and the subsequent violence demonstrated a real crisis of legitimacy. The SLDF, by creating a force, were legitimizing a parallel government contrary to the constitution and existing legislation thus the intervention. The first targets of violence were the government‟s representatives including the District Officers, the chiefs and

33 their assistants or individuals linked to state and who played a role in the land distribution. These were majorly the surveyors and elders who were involved in vetting the land applicants and beneficiaries. The defiance of authority by the SLDF was also extended to elected members of Parliament and the area Councilors. The formation in 2006 of the SLDF as a group was to seek redress for alleged injustices during land distribution but turned out to be a rebel group according to the Police Spokesman. The outfit instead operated a parallel government to the legitimately elected one. In his defense of the military‟s actions, it was necessary to put an end to the activities of the group. There are those however, who feel that the Mount Elgon was too small an area to send such a massive operation ,secondly, evidence shows that the local capacities for peace or other channels of peace had not been explored or exhausted before resorting to military intervention. It is therefore felt that the government acted in haste and contributed to the destruction of livelihoods, lives and infrastructure. Many have questioned the indiscriminate use of military force on civilians while targeting SLDF.

9.3 What are the effects of the inter-ethnic land conflict on women, men and children?

9.3.1 Women and armed conflict

It is clear from the literature review that gendered inequalities are exacerbated during periods of armed conflict and continue even during post conflict reconstruction .Both women and men suffer war, abuses and traumas as well as disruption of their lives and loss of resources. The impact of these losses is experienced in different ways and are often disproportionate, reflecting gender inequalities Although war is fought among groups with dissenting views, it is obvious that it has no limits in what is done to undermine or destroy the “enemy” and in this contexts, the rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups are grossly violated. El Jack, 2002), because of their vulnerability, they are usually the targets thus suffering the most. In my encounter with one of the violence victims in the IDP camp, she explained that she was raped by five men who were members of the dreaded SLDF and when the government military forces came, they too raped She explained that she had no strength to run and nowhere to go. The consequences of sexual violence were traumatizing to the community members. There was a case of a woman reported widely in the media who had

34 been raped and all indications were that she was pregnant. It turned out that she was not pregnant but had contracted some strange disease that distended her belly. She claimed she had been raped by a soldier (Daily Nation, April, 15, 2009). Besides, women also have particular healthcare needs as a result of these violations During my visit to the Mt.Elgon district hospital I was shown a number of referrals to the provincial hospital were women who had contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of rape during the conflict I interviewed one victim who was waiting for anti-retroviral drugs and she said that she had been raped in front of her husband who was then shot dead. She also revealed that many victims were scared of reporting the incidence or seeking medical help because most of the perpetrators were still walking free posing a threat to their security. Such are the plights that face the women of Mt.Elgon. When questioned, the police spokesman argued that the sexual violence was committed by the SLDF and the military‟s presence was necessary. All in all, women faced the multiple tragedies of being rape, rejected by family/community and being infected by sexually transmitted diseases.

9.3.2 Men and armed conflict

One of the gendered realities of armed conflict is that although men are looked at as perpetrators, their vulnerabilities during armed conflicts is best illustrated by the increasing number of female headed households in conflict zones. Sexual violence is not only inflicted on women, men and boys are raped and sodomized too (Bennet,1996)This is aimed at destroying their manhood and power. But men are constantly in denial of being abused. The perception is that women can be victims but not men. (Moser and Clark,2007:3).However, men do not suffer in terms of sexual violence only, they also experience human rights abuses that are different from but equally unjust to those affecting women(El Jack2002).In Mt.Elgon for instance, men were direct targets of both the members of SLDF and the government security agents. They were taken as prisoners, detained and castrated while some were tortured to death and others disappeared without trace. The targeting of men therefore was a direct violation of their rights. The conflict clearly delineated two different identities of men. One was that of the powerless and vulnerable who were victims and the powerful who waged violence. El Jack clarifies that the fact that war is usually perpetrated by men does not prove men are inherently

35 violent. War is waged by those who have power and men are usually in the most powerful positions (El Jack, 2002).

9.3.3 Children and armed conflict

Emphasis has been put on the causes of land conflict and ownership in Mount Elgon and what should be done , but little attention is given to the effects of the clashes especially on the residents of the area yet evidence suggests that victims of clashes suffer both during and after the violence. Children bear the brunt of conflict. They are killed, maimed or injured and permanently disabled. Others are forced to witness or even take part in the horrifying acts of violence. Children are also targets where religious and ethnic affiliations are manipulated to heighten feelings of hatred or aggression against children as well adults. Battles are fought everywhere and as a result the proportion of war victims who are civilian victims has moved up from 5% to over 90% and at least half of these are children(UNICEF,1996).According to the UN report, Children are deliberately recruited as combatants in wars and this is made easier by the proliferation of light weapons. For instance in Uganda an AK -47 rifles can be purchased for the cost of a chicken (UNICEF, 1996). The statistics are shocking. UNICEF reports that each year between 8,000 to 10,000 children worldwide are victims of land mines. Between 1986 and 1996, armed conflict killed 2 million children, while 6 million were traumatized and more than 10 million orphaned or separated from parents. Girl children are particularly vulnerable to kidnapping and serve as „wives‟ of the rebels and well as cooking for them among other chores after being raped. They are mostly raped. Boys on the other hand are forced to carry guns and kill. It is equally obvious that during war, youngest children also suffer from malnutrition while girls and women are raped and taken as slaves to cook and serve the armed groups.

9.3.4.. Atrocities by the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF).

The Sabaot Land Defense Force militia group was formed in 2005 with the aim of resisting the Government‟s attempt to evict squatters from the Chebyuk settlement scheme and according to documented evidence from among others the relief and development agencies as well as the government reports they tortured men, raped women. The community suffered double tragedy in the hands of the militia SLDF and later by the government military forces. The SLDF also kidnapped young girls and women to keep them as wives (sex slaves) and also

36 to cook for them among other duties. Young school boys were forcefully recruited into outfit and were forced to kill their own kinsmen as a proof of their loyalty. Adults‟ males and females who resisted had their ears or lips chopped off.

9.4.4 Atrocities by the Kenya Military officers.

“I saw men beaten on their genitals and their testicles pulled out”, said one victim who had been taken for screening at a temporary military base set up for that purpose (MSF Report, 2008).

Reports from Mount Elgon indicate that the government is complicit in the conflicts and the government agents are many times seen as perpetrators. For instance, the involvement of Sudanese Military forces in the attacks in Darfur indicated Government‟s knowledge, participation and resulting responsibility for sexual victimization. Rape and sexual violence are often employed as instruments of state and the inter-group conflict (Hagan 2009). However, many of the reviewed articles focus more on big wars involving countries and requiring the deployment of international peace keepers in most cases the United Nations peace keeping troops. When the Government deployed the military to Mount Elgon, the local residents welcomed them but the army pursued a strategy of blanket condemnation of the community rounding up all adult males in the district taking them to interrogation camps where the military forces systematically tortured to extract information from innocent civilians who were not involved with SLDF activities. This was coupled with the Unlawful killings and enforced disappearances of civilians. The approach was to round up and arrest every single male over the age of 15.Many were detained, beaten and as a resulting in some dying. Tortures included welts, bruises, swollen faces, broken wrists and rope burns around wrists. Up to today women are still searching for their missing husband

According to the police spokesperson, about 613 people are estimated to been killed by either the SLDF or the government military agents; (HRW, 2008), 118 were abducted, 33 maimed with 23 documented missing without trace. The SLDF carried out their atrocities with impunity. On two occasions the rebel group attacked two police stations (Inquiry Report into the Mt.Elgon violence,2008.) The brazen manner in which the SLDF carried out their atrocities was demonstrated when they executed government officials including a chief and two assistant

37 chiefs at the locational level .This was an indication of a break -down of the government‟s social and political structures.

9.5 What are the socio-cultural and economic long term effects of the inter-ethnic land conflict and how will they impact on Gender Relations and the family/kinship structures?

9.5.1 Disruption of family structures and social order

In order to understand the negative effects of armed conflict, attention should be paid to the motive behind the atrocities committed and the stigma associated with them. Families that are highly patriachical may experience intense changes during and after conflict. The massive displacement may lead to family disintegration with some members ending up in IDP camps while others are killed in the process. This separation impacts on the family and existing social structures. New roles may emerge, for instance in Mt.Elgon, women whose husbands were either killed or fled, became heads of household leading to resentment especially from men and extended members of the family that may disrupt the existing social order. Further, the added responsibilities women have in productive, reproductive and community work are often transferred to younger girls and boys within the family. In particular, young girls have to assume more responsibilities such as caring for children, the elderly and the sick, along with managing burdensome work. This shift of responsibility impacts on the welfare and future of female household members (El Jack, 2005).

One effect that is visible in the private or domestic sphere where women are likely to experience increased violence is not only at the hands of occupying or state forces but also by men in the household in the post conflict period. Additionally, men who are unable to fulfill their „masculine‟ roles as perpetrators or aggressors may vent their frustrations on their families since Raped women are a constant reminder of the men‟s inability to protect them. This is exacerbated when the women are rejected thus low production because of reduced labor force. The inability to provide for their families may also exacerbate the frustrations leading to further hostility. Conflict and displacement may lead to increased poverty as a result of the destruction and loss of livelihood. This may heighten tensions among the household members. The raping of women may lead to the breaking up of families since men and communities are not willing to accept a woman who has been „defiled‟. In places like Sudan, such women are labeled as „damaged goods and are often rejected by family or community Bennet, (1995); Wood, (2002). The shunned women may seek refuge elsewhere and engage in prostitution in

39 order to make a living. In Mt.Elgon, women who conceived after being raped were shunned and even those who were accepted had the rape children as constant reminders of their experiences. With the arrival of „rape children‟ family lineages were disrupted. This drew resentment from extended family members who were not comfortable bring up „the enemy‟s‟ children in their midst. Girls who are sexually abused do not grow up as normal women, most of them drop out of school, leave home and end up as prostitutes.

Spouses of raped women and men may fear reuniting with them for fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Many of them according to documented evidence contracted sexually transmitted disease. Boys especially who were forcefully recruited could not cope with the „normal‟ system since as soldiers, they were used to giving orders and being obeyed. The fact that they had to obey a parent didn‟t suit them. Most left and went to urban areas in search of opportunities. Many were carrying the stigma of having raped or killed around with them. Men, burdened with the guilt of having been unable to protect their women against sexual abuses also turned aggressive against their families with many abandoning their responsibilities and homes.

Armed conflict leads to a breakdown in the family support systems so essential to a child‟s survival and development. During displacements, children loose community support systems since they are parted from their parents thus they are denied the protection as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children also face a heightened risk of rape, sexual humiliation, prostitution and other forms of gender based violence. Although girls are usually the victims, young boys are also raped or forced into prostitution, yet it is generally under-reported.

Women who were raped in Mt.Elgon were not able to access health services because the law required that they get a special form known as P3 from the police. It was difficult for these women since the police were the perpetrators. At the same time, they could not afford to go to private hospitals which are very expensive. Most of them suffered physical and psychological trauma. Many suffered depression. While sexual rape has obvious health and psychological effects, yet its effect on the family, community and wider society has far reaching consequences. The damage of rape is devastating because of a strong communal

40 reaction to violence and pain stamped on an entire family and culture, as in many societies women are seen as repositories of a community‟s cultural and spiritual values. Many of those raped and become pregnant are ostracized by their families and communities.(Wood,2004).

9.5.2 Destruction of Property, theft of land and Livestock.

Reports especially in the media indicate that many homes were looted then set on fire while livestock were stolen and money found was taken. The militia had different motives including theft to keep their stock or settling scores over land dispute, the main motive however turned out to be political. Food security status of men and women was felt differently in Mount Elgon conflict. This was pronounced in 3 key areas i) through sexual exploitation, thus most women offered sex in exchange for food and other services. ii) Access to (or lack of) social services such as health care and education iii) Stress on livelihood strategies and survival or coping mechanisms. Economic destruction affected by conflict included loss of livelihood especially farming activities which changed the production and storage as a result of fleeing victims

9.5.3. Forced Displacements.

Forced displacement is frequently used as a strategy in conflict to target gender relations through family breakdown and social destabilization. It leads to shifts in gendered roles and responsibilities for both men and women. The demographic change due to conflict has led to more women becoming heads of households. This has contributed to change in the division of labor that have created opportunities for women but in some respects further marginalization (El Jack (2002). Forced displacement is the clearest violation of human, economic, political and social rights of failure to comply with international laws (Moser and Clark,(2001:32),El Jack (2002) says that forced displacement is frequently used as a strategy in conflict to target gender relations through family breakdown and social destabilization. IDPs are not protected by international laws yet people have often been uprooted from the homelands due to political religious ,cultural and ethnic persecution during conflict. Displacement is a source of human

41 rights violation and results in distinct types of disadvantages for both women and men. Displacement disproportionately disadvantages women, because it results in reduced access to resources to cope with household responsibility and increased physical, emotional violence. Displacement also implies social exclusion (El Jack,2002).El Jack further argues that displacement does not affect all women in the same way. In Sudan, for example, ethnic group such as the Dinka, Nuer and Nuba well as other groups in the south and Nuba Mountains are marginalized due to their minority status. Women from these groups constitute an increasing number of fatalities and casualties.

Displacement also implies social exclusion and poverty. It places a burden on the host families or in the case of IDPs creation of camps that are not suitable for long habitation. During my encounter with the IDPs, I witnessed the pathetic conditions under which they lived. Lack of water, poor sanitation and the crowding with no privacy. Women and girls who have unique needs faced double jeopardy in these conditions because they lacked privacy. This exacerbated their suffering even more. Young girls and women faced risks of rape as well as early sex. Because of lack of income most women in the IDP camps engaged in commercial in exchange for food or medicine for their sick children. Men and boys on the other hand having gotten used to carrying out specific occupations may find themselves carrying out that are criminal in nature for lack of engagement in economic occupations, while women and young girls with no source of income may end up in prostitution. Evidence from camps of refugees and IDPs show that women in the camps are constantly subjected to rape and other forms of sexual abuses and other forms of violence. Men are usually the perpetrators in many instances.

9.7 How is Sexual and gender based violence used as a Weapon of War

“They (SLDF)Kicked the door open, accused my husband of being a traitor their cause, they then dragged the two of us to the bush where they beheaded my husband and took turns raping for days. They said I would pay the price for my husband‟s treachery”( A 33 year old Dorobo woman).

9.7.1 Male Domination over women

Sexual violence is only part of the wider range of practices called gender violence (Moser,2005). It has been located within private domain, a conceptual move which itself suggests the operations of power. (OCHR, 2008:97a).The perpetrators or actors are usually male or members of a dominant ethnic group (Zalewski and Enloe,1995:95). In contexts of warfare, or Societal disintegration, inter-group rape is often used as a means of controlling reproduction and is a powerful weapon for destruction of social groups In Mount Elgon, the SLDF Militia kidnapped and killed up to 5 people in a day ” If they targeted a home they took every members of that family irrespective of age and sex” ,said a 33 year old rape victim. The militia extorted fines from people chopping off the ears of those who had no money. Those who resisted had their heads chopped off and bodies thrown in pits. The military forces organize rape as a means for both intimidating, humiliating and dispossessing the enemies. Just like in the Mount Elgon conflict, militarized rape is distinct because it is perpetrated in a context of institutional policies and decisions. Violence against women in armed conflict is not accidental; it is a weapon of war, a tool used to achieve military objectives such as ethnic cleansing ,spreading political terror, breaking the resistance of a community, rewarding soldiers or to extract information(Wood,2003). The commonest method used by the military in Mt.Elgon to extract information was the torture of men and rape of women. Women are also raped to send a message to the enemy or targeting a certain group for ethnic cleansing to instigate flight or expulsion of certain community e.g. the systematic rape of Muslim women in Bosnia. Worse still, sexual violence has been broadly used as a weapon to erase ethnic lineage Many forms of violence that women suffer during armed conflict are gender specific. Recent investigations have clearly demonstrated that in any number of conflict situations, the targeting of victims and

43 the forms of the abuse carried out during armed conflict were based on gender as well as other identity markers such as ethnicity or race (Wood, 2004;El Jack,2003)

9.7.3 Sexual Violence A taboo Topic

Many cases of sexual violence especially in time of conflicts or war remain unreported because the victims are either too traumatized or for fear of stigmatization by family and society. Male victims of sexual violence appear to be particularly reluctant to report it in most societies for fear of reprisal (Amowitz, 2002). Although there are no specific figures from Mt.Elgon of men who were castrated or sodomized, reports from the media and aid workers highlighted these atrocities in the hands of the military(HRW, 2008). Rape was used to send women away from their homes, especially those married in the community yet they were from another ethnic group. This was meant to eliminate the enemy. During the Mount Elgon conflict, women were specifically targeted as victims and were subject to rape and sexual assault (KNCHR, 2008; MSF, 2008).Unsupported claims report that many men in Mt.Elgon will not be able to have children because they were castrated while many women had infections that rendered them infertile thus may affect negatively the capacity of the men and women to reproduce and the capacity of their ethnic groups and community to continue. It is a double blow for women after they are raped and get infected with sexually Transmitted diseases. Both the military and the Sabaot Land Defense Force Militia were accused of sexual violence.

In carrying out interviews with the victims of torture in Mount Elgon, it was clear that many of them did not want to openly discuss their experiences. In a community that is still very traditional with little exposure to the media, discussing sexual matters is a taboo and very traumatizing and many would rather they didn‟t talk about it but suffer in silence. According to Dr. Charles Ongudi of the Nairobi Women‟s Hospital in Kenya, quoted in „All the Men Have Gone”, by Human Rights Watch in 2008, ”Many women are dying secretly due to stigma associated with rape and HIV-it is a double blow for women and girls” Matters are made worse when many fear seeking medical assistance. Many of the women feel guilty because

44 they are blamed by community members who see them as bringing bad luck if they continued living among them. The worst tragedy is that most of the raped women are not only suffering psychologically but many were rejected by their husbands or relatives of the husband where the husband died. Many moved to urban areas where they did casual work, selling vegetables while others resorted to commercial sex work to earn a living.

In Mt.Elgon, rape was reportedly committed by both the SLDF and the Government soldiers. According to reports, rape of men and women including gang rape by SLDF by witnesses account, were routine. While interviewing the victims and other community members, it was not possible to get the exact figures because of the nature of the act that was shrouded in secrecy and fear. Many victims didn‟t want to talk about this traumatic experience, many however, were too scared to report because they had been explicitly warned of reprisals if they reported or sought treatment. Women were not only subjected to rape but other forms of torture. According to the police spokesperson, the SLDF, while carrying out their atrocities, would cut open a pregnant woman‟s stomach and spear through the fetus killing it instantly. They would then tell her that they had no intention of allowing an „enemy‟ to live. Needless to say, no man would admit to having been sodomized! There are many Cases of women who were raped and ended up contracting sexually transmitted diseases in Mount Elgon. A report that was given wide media coverage showed a woman whose belly was swollen one year after being raped in what looked like a pregnancy yet tests confirmed that it wasn‟t, instead she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease Raped and infected women are in a dilemma, many of them do not know who between the militia and the government security agents infected them with HIV. One of the traumatizing experiences for me was when I encountered HIV positive mothers with the children conceived as a result of rape. It is also a double blow for children, in the first place, they are children of rape, they are HIV positive and are being cared for by HIV positive mothers.

Studies of sexual rape are complicated by societal taboos regarding rape, although these taboos have not completely silenced advocacy on behalf of rape victims but they discourage victims from reporting rapes. Sexual violence was used a as a weapon in most armed conflicts

45 taking place in 2009 (Alert Report, 2010).In addition to the report, The yearbook 2010 on Peace Processes published by School for a Culture of Peace- ECP, analyzes the state of the world in 2009 in connection with conflicts and peace building and comes up with facts that sexual violence aggravated the 31 armed conflicts of 2009. The report analyses 31 armed conflicts registered in 2009 most of them in Asia (14) and Africa (10).The report points out that violence against women including sexual violence as a weapon of war was a constant in all armed conflicts, eg in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sexual violence reached chronic stage while Colombia, Myanmar and US, personnel from the armed forces used sexual violence and other abusive practices against women. The report also condemns the fact that most peace processes continue to ignore these issues even though it is one of the main threats to peace and security of these populations. Caroline Moser (2005) criticizes the international response to sexual violence as being slow inconsistent and piecemeal in fashion when it comes to dealing with rape She blames the international community of not doing enough to prevent sexual violence in war. ”There is a lot of violence going on and victims do not report, because it is considered social death “.A raped woman is often victimized and shunned by her husband and the community. In Kivu, the victims were afraid of the perpetrators because they were still around and most of them armed.

Sex during war was used to convert bodily violation into regimes of political power and at the same, it was marked with silence since charges were seldom brought against the perpetrators and available sanctions never imposed (El Jack, 2003). Wartime sexual violence has been rendered silent by appropriation into the language of property rights with women considered part of the reward due the victor. Despite all consensus and international agreements like the statutes, sexual violence is always present during war or conflicts. Some explanations are forth coming. For instance during the time of peace, sexual aggression is regulated by mechanisms that differ across countries and often within country groups. However, these regulatory mechanisms tend to break down during warfare resulting in higher levels of sexual violence (Hagan, 2009). This is particularly common with wars fought from the normal social norms by young men (combatants) from the normal social controls of village and neighborhood. In Racial Targeting of sexual violence in Darfur, Hagan (2009) explains that, sexual violence

46 results in physical harm, reproductive trauma, and the communication of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, pregnancy and feelings of helplessness and humiliation that persist as posttraumatic stress disorders. For example, consequences of sexual violence on women can result in traumatic fistula or incontinence of urine, stool, that leave victims physically traumatized, shamed and depressed.

9.8 International Laws and Conventions

Although Kenya is a signatory to many of the Conventions, the state stands accused of not protecting its citizens against gross human rights violations. The State has never taken action against the perpetrators of the violence in Mt. Elgon. This level of impunity forced the victims of Mt.Elgon conflict to sue the state at the East African Court of Justice at Arusha. The Establishment of Truth and Reconciliation Commission it is hoped will promote peace and harmony.

10.0. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

10.1. Gender Analysis and Gender Mainstreaming

In order to understand how conflict affects gender, attention must be paid to gender dimensions of conflict as a way to mitigate against them and to strengthen development and peace building programs which promote gender equality (El Jack, 2002).Undertaking gender analysis can help to identify disparities existing in the social structures especially in the provision of basic needs, access to education security and power dimensions. Women must participate in peace making activities including decision making. Secondly, there should be mainstreaming policies and programs with emphasis on promoting more equitable gender roles. In order to mitigate against military interventions or use of armed force to settle conflicts, Local capacities for peace (LCPs) must be promoted and strengthened. These include minimizing tensions through negotiations and peace building processes using peace committees in the district up to the National Level.

All inclusive land resettlement programs for the Chepyuk settlement scheme should be initiated: the Government and other key stakeholders should restart the resettlement program that had sparked conflict but it should be all inclusive and fair, focusing on the genuine squatters. This means that the landless should be resettled by taking into account the historical injustices, availability of land and social equity. Although forest conservation is critical for environmental sustainability, sustainable livelihood is paramount to guaranteed security and peaceful co-existence. Therefore Government should hive off part of the forest in Mount Elgon to resettle the landless who should receive title deeds as a confirmation of ownership. Interventions should account for the diverse realities of women and men, since all may play different roles after the conflict, including perpetrators and victims. Intervention programs should take into account considerations of gender issues that exacerbate gender inequality; for instance in the disarmament demobilization of the militia groups if administered in gender blind ways it can exacerbate the existing inequalities.

UNSC Resolution 1325 recommends that those negotiating and implementing peace agreements should adopt a gender sensitive perspective and address the protection and human rights of women and girls during conflict and in post conflict reconstruction. Broad based

48 peace reconciliation and healing process should be instituted between rival factions of clans. Peace should be spearheaded by concerned communities.

Since women are the main victims of war either directly as fatalities and casualties or indirectly through breakdown of family and community structures (El Jack, Byrne,1996) there is a need to mainstream gender awareness into the structures that govern armed conflict. One way is by involving women‟s organization at the decision making level in the formation of political and legal structures. At the same time, the Government should create conditions necessary for diversification of the economy instead of sole reliance on land. Alternative means of livelihood and youth employment will ensure that youths are not idle and therefore will not be easy targets for recruitment by the militia. However, gender dimensions should not only focus on women but also men and boys .For example men and boys who were involved in conflict or violence require recognition of the gendered roles and how they change. For instance as men take up arms to fight or flee for fear of arrest or being targeted, women become heads of households. Boy soldiers on the other hand, may find it difficult to fit into the social system since they are accustomed to giving orders and being obeyed. Context specific evidence is required to understand the diverse roles and needs of women and men during and after armed conflict .Such evidence must be based on what is happening and not on stereotyped interpretation of gender roles. Research on armed conflict and its impacts such as forced displacement, show that gender relations within the family and community are changed by the conflict. If gendered needs have to be addressed it is important to take cognizance of the specific needs of women and men who have suffered traumas such as gender based violence. Attention also must be paid to how hegemonic notions of masculinity can limit the understanding of the diverse gender roles and needs and how they change for men and women and affect gender relations. More awareness of this gender fluidity and diversity might contribute to the development of gender sensitive post conflict interventions (El Jack,2003).

Finally, more funding should be made available to research and document the impact that all forms of gender based violence during armed conflicts (including imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery and forced sex work) have on women men and on transforming gender relations. At the same time, the enforcement of international laws and conventions is paramount to sustainable pea

11. O. APPENDICES

11.1 Appendix

Questionnaires to the victims.

-Briefly explain what happened? -Describe your experience, how did it happen? -How were other people affected, eg your family, neighbors etc? -Can you identify the perpetrators? -How do you know who they were? Did you see them or were you told ? -How do you feel about the whole violence? - I understand you lost everything including your home during the violence, where are you living now? If you were to meet with some of the perpetrators, how would you feel?

11.2 Interview Questions to the police spokesperson

In your opinion as the government‟s security agent, what happened in Mount Elgon and why? Do you believe that the Government could have prevented the conflict from happening? What led to the deployment of the military? Do you believe that the Government had exhausted all channels of peace embarking on the military intervention? Can you describe the Mount Elgon Conflict In your opinion, why did the conflict occur and why was it so violent? Who is wrong? What is the role of the government in quelling the violence There have been claims that the security agents especially the GSU and the Military are brutal in their operations. That they don‟t value the sanctity of life. There allegations also the military targets men with an intention of making them impotent (to stop them from siring children) while raping women to create a new breed of children rendering the community extinct. The deployment of the military seems to be a harsh measure, rather extreme, your comment .Why was the military deployed? Was it necessary to have the military,

The military and the police were accused of gross violation of human rights including raping of women and girls ,torture and castration, brutal chopping off of the ears of the victims

11.3 Appendix II-Map of Kenya showing Mount Elgon

http://www.mountainvoices.org/transcripts.html

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