デルモンテ農園の警備員、組織的に暴行・レイプ・殺人か ケニア

【ティカ（ケニア）ＡＦＰ＝時事】ケニアにある米野菜・果実加工大手デルモンテの農園が、警備員による暴行、レイプ、殺人などで訴えられている。（写真はケニアのナイロビ郊外カバティにある米野菜・果実加工大手デルモンテの農園の向かいで、パイナップルを売っている闇市場）
　首都ナイロビ郊外に同社が所有する広大なパイナップル農園の元警備員ダニエル・カマウ・ワイナイナさん（５８）は「指示は明確だった。窃盗犯を見たら追いかけて捕まえ、徹底的に殴れと命じられた」と語った。
　デルモンテが直接雇用する警備員に暴力を受けたとする被害者や親族１０人とＮＧＯ２団体は昨年１２月、高等裁判所に同社を訴えた。
　警察は同月、デルモンテの農園からパイナップルを盗もうとしたとされる男性４人が遺体で見つかった事件についても、殺人の疑いで捜査していると発表した。
　ＡＦＰはティカ近郊の農園で警備員による暴力を目撃した、あるいは自分も被害に遭ったという人々に話を聞いた。
　デルモンテは世界での売上高は４０億ドル（約６０００億円）を超え、ケニアでは約６０００人を雇用する。ＡＦＰはこれらの件について数回取材を申し込んでいるが、これまで一切返答はない。
　■過激化する窃盗対策
　デルモンテの農園では確かに窃盗が頻発している。ＡＦＰの記者も１月に２日ほど目撃した。どちらとも若者たちが、盗んだパイナップルが詰まった袋を徒歩またはオートバイで運んでいた。発生したのは午後１時ごろ、警備員が交代する時間帯だった。
　２０代のある男性はＡＦＰに対し、１２月に川で遺体で見つかった４人と当日一緒だったと語った。「待ち伏せしていた警備員らに怒鳴られた。追いつかれて、金属や木の棒で殴られた」。
　この男性はなんとか茂みに隠れたが、他の４人はひどく殴られていたという。「その後、みんな死んだと思ったようで、警備員たちは証拠を隠すため遺体を川に捨てた」
　デルモンテは「検視報告書によると死因は水死で、犯罪を示すものはない」としている。しかし独立機関のケニア国家人権委員会（ＫＮＣＨＲ）は予備調査の結果として、「４人は水死させられる前に襲撃されていたことが明らか」だと指摘した。
　匿名を条件にＡＦＰの取材に応じたＫＮＣＨＲの調査官によれば、デルモンテ警備員の暴力は以前よりも「巧妙」になっているという。「以前は殴り殺して、遺体を川に捨てていた。今は殴ってから、まだ息の根があるうちに水に漬け、検視で溺死と判断されるようにしている」
　主に警備員として２５年間デルモンテで働いていたワイナイナさんも、パイナップル泥棒を殴ったことがあるとＡＦＰに語った。「上からの命令で殴ることもあった。さもなければクビだと脅された」
　■問われない罪
　英紙ガーディアンと英ＮＰＯ調査報道局（ＢＩＪ）は昨年６月に発表した共同調査で、過去１０年間にこのデルモンテ農園で６件の殺人があったとする疑惑を報告している。
　これを受け、英大手スーパーマーケット、テスコはケニア産パイナップルの販売を停止。ウェイトローズもデルモンテ農園のパイナップルの販売を停止した。
　訴状によると、地元の人々はデルモンテ農園がある場所を先祖伝来の土地の一部と主張しており、長年広大な敷地内を往来してきた。そのため、デルモンテが配置した警備員との衝突が起き、警備員が「不法侵入者」に暴行、殴打、拷問を加えたり、レイプや殺人を行ったりしているとしている。
　住民側のムビユ・カマウ弁護士は、デルモンテの警備員は「免責扱いだ」「ほとんど対処されていないことが問題だ」とＡＦＰに語った。またケニアの行政機関、法的機関、警察の怠慢でもあると非難した。
　州知事、警察、司法省のいずれもＡＦＰの取材要請に応じていない。
　■「残忍かつ組織的」
　「ボダボダ」と呼ばれるオートバイタクシーの運転手、サイモン・カマウ・ワマイタさん（３３）もデルモンテの警備員から虐待を受けた。裁判に加わりたいと言う。
　２０２０年１０月、石炭の入った袋を運びながら農園を横切ろうとして声を掛けられた。「警備員たちは一斉に襲いかかり、容赦なく殴ってきた。犬を放って私を殺そうとした」。鼻先にはそのときの傷が残っていた。
　３０代の女性ブリジットさん（仮名）は２００２年、１２歳のときに母親と薪を集めに行った農園で、３人の警備員に集団レイプされたとＡＦＰに語った。
　「服を脱げと言われて拒否したら、無理やり脱がされ、地面に押さえつけられて交互にレイプされた」
　「羞恥心」から夫にも被害について話したことがないという。デルモンテに損害賠償を求めているが、裁判は起こしていない。
　英国の法律事務所リー・デイは、デルモンテの警備員から虐待を受けたという１３４人の代理人を務めている。ウェブサイトによると殺人５件、レイプ５件が含まれ、一部の事件は２０１３年にさかのぼる。
　担当弁護士のリチャード・ミーラン氏は「ケニアのデルモンテ警備員による人権侵害疑惑は、パイナップル窃盗を抑止するために編み出された方法が残忍かつ組織的で、人権を尊重する企業のやり方ではない」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/02/28-18:27）

The instructions were very clear: when you see a thief, you chase him until you arrest him and you beat him up brutally, says Daniel Kamau Wainaina, a former security guard on a Kenyan pineapple plantation owned by US food giant Del Monte.
The company is facing multiple accusations of assault, rape and murder by its guards at the vast farm northeast of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, some going back years.
Del Monte said it is ready to address the allegations in the Kenyan courts, and that it trusted they would be found to be nothing more than disinformation campaigns by the plaintiffs and the media.
A lawsuit was filed at Kenya's High Court in December against Del Monte, representing two NGOs and 10 people who claim they or their relatives had been attacked by security guards employed directly by the company.
Earlier that month, police announced they were investigating the suspected murder of four men accused of trying to steal pineapples from the 10,000-acre (4,000-hectare) plantation.
AFP has spoken to several people at the site near the town of Thika who said they witnessed attacks by guards or were themselves victims.
The multinational fruit and vegetable producer, which employs some 6,000 people in Kenya and has global sales of more than $4 billion, declined several requests by AFP for an interview to discuss the various claims.
- 'No foul play' -
In a statement, Del Monte said it was cooperating with the Kenyan authorities over the four deaths in December.
It said CCTV footage shows no foul play on Del Monte's part and instead shows the thieves running away towards the river, after dropping bags of stolen pineapple, as they tried to run away from security guards.
Organised crime, particularly around pineapple theft, is becoming increasingly rampant in the area, it added.
Indeed, thefts are a frequent occurrence at the plantation, AFP journalists witnessed.
At the time of a guard rotation around 1:00 pm on two different days in January, AFP saw many youths, either on foot or on motorcycles, struggling to carry heavy bags full of stolen pineapples.
One man, aged in his 20s, told AFP he had been looking to steal pineapples along with the four men whose bodies were found dumped in a nearby river in late December.
They (security guards) ambushed us and started yelling at us. When they caught up with us, they started beating us with metal bars and wooden sticks, said Buddy, who did not want to give his real name.
Buddy said he managed to hide in a bush but saw four others were very badly beaten.
After being beaten, it appears the guards thought they were dead. To hide the evidence, they threw their bodies into the river, he said.
Another self-confessed thief, also in his 20s and who wanted to be identified only as Ras, claimed to have witnessed the event and gave a similar account.
Two bodies were found on Christmas Eve, another two on Christmas Day. No charges have yet been laid over the incident.
- 'Multiple bruises' -
In videos seen by AFP provided by a member of local community NGO Kagama, who was at the scene when the first bodies were discovered, the face of one victim appears swollen, with blood coming out of his nose and mouth.
According to autopsy reports, the individuals died by drowning and there was no indication of foul play, Del Monte said.
AFP has seen a copy of the autopsy report on one of the victims, which concluded that death was caused by drowning, but noted there were multiple scalp bruises extending to the face.
The case is being monitored by the state-run but independent Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNCHR).
Our preliminary investigations reveal, beyond reasonable doubt, that the four men were attacked before they were forcibly drowned, senior KNCHR official Kamanda Mucheke was quoted as saying by the Daily Nation newspaper in late December.
According to a KNCHR investigator who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the guards have improved their methods.
Before, they beat people up to death, and then dropped the bodies in the water. Now they beat people up and put the people who are still alive in the water but too weak to swim, so that the autopsies can conclude that the people drowned.
Wainaina said he worked for Del Monte for 25 years, mostly as a guard. The 58-year-old, who told AFP he had beaten pineapple thieves, was fired in 2016 over accusations of theft, which he denies.
We used to get orders from above to beat... Otherwise, we were threatened with the sack.
Gerald Njoroge Mwangi said he worked as a guard on the plantation between 2010 and 2019. Although he maintains he has never hit anyone, he said he witnessed many beatings.
We are not trained to deal with thieves, he added.
In 2019, five Del Monte guards were prosecuted over the death of a quarry worker, Bernard Murigi Wanginye, 26, who had gone to steal pineapples.
The defendants, who pleaded not guilty and were fired by Del Monte, have yet to be tried.
- 'Impunity' -
In a joint investigation published in June, Britain's The Guardian newspaper and the UK-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported on allegations of six murders at the plantation in the last decade.
British supermarket giant Tesco later announced it was suspending its supply of pineapples from Kenya.
Fellow UK supermarket chain Waitrose also said it had stopped selling pineapples from the Del Monte plantation from September.
The lawsuit filed on December 30 said locals had long been crossing the sprawling site, with the community claiming it as part of their ancestral lands.
This has led to conflicts with the security personnel deployed by Del Monte, who assault, beat, torture, maim, rape and/or kill the trespassers, it said.
Lawyer Mbiyu Kamau, who filed the lawsuit, denounced what he branded impunity.
The concern is that very little action has been taken against the Del Monte security personnel, he told AFP, adding that the lawsuit also targeted the Kenyan police authorities for failing to act as well as various government and legal bodies.
In its response sent to AFP, Del Monte said: We believe in the Kenyan judicial system.
We look forward to addressing allegations that have been levelled against us and others, including the Kenyan government, through the Kenyan courts, and look forward to the opportunity for all parties to present evidence in a public forum and trust that those proceedings will reveal the allegations to be nothing more than disinformation campaigns by the plaintiffs and the media.
We are constantly looking for areas where we can improve, it said, emphasising its commitment to human rights.
Neither the local governor, county police nor the justice ministry responded to AFP's requests for comment.
- 'Left me for dead' -
In the villages around the plantation, several people interviewed by AFP said they had been abused by Del Monte's guards.
Among them was boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) driver Simon Kamau Wamaitha, 33, who said he wanted to join the lawsuit against Del Monte.
He said that in October 2020 he was accosted by Del Monte guards as he was crossing the plantation while carrying a bag of coal.
The guards all pounced on me, they beat me mercilessly and released dogs on me and left me for dead, he said, showing where the tip of his nose had been injured.
Another alleged victim, whose name was changed to protect her identity, told AFP she was gang raped in 2002 by three guards when she was only 12 years old.
Brigitte, now in her 30s, said she had gone to the plantation with her mother to collect firewood.
They asked me to take off my clothes, I refused. They forcefully undressed me, laid me on the ground and raped me in turns.
Brigitte, who said she had not even spoken to her husband about the alleged rape because of shame, told AFP she was seeking reparations from Del Monte but has not filed a legal case.
- 'Brutal, systemic' -
British law firm Leigh Day represents 134 people who say they were abused by Del Monte's guards, with some charges dating back to 2013.
The accusations include five cases of alleged rape and five deaths, as well as beatings, it says on its website.
The allegations of human rights abuses by Del Monte's security guards in Kenya indicate a modus operandi designed to deter pineapple theft that is brutal and systemic and which is completely at variance with that of a business that respects human rights, said Richard Meeran, who represents the 134.
But the alleged brutality of the guards does not seem to deter the dozens of young men who go every day to steal pineapples to sell in the market for a few hundred shillings, just a few dollars.
I'm searching for pineapple so I can sell to get some food to eat. Us, we don't have jobs, said Jackson, 25.
He said he had been beaten by guards in the past, showing a scar on his neck.
Does he fear them? Of course I'm afraid, said Jackson, who admitted he started a life of petty theft at the age of 10.
Lawyer Kamau said the offences of theft and trespassing, which together are punishable by up to four years in prison, did not justify physical abuse.
And he said it should be the justice system that tries any suspected thieves.
Whether this person is a thief or stealing or not, let the judge determine.