[JURIST] Kenyan military forces tortured over 4,000 suspected rebels in a recent crackdown against the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF), according to a report released Monday by human rights group Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) [advocacy website]. The group accused soldiers of crimes against humanity in a campaign against the SLDF, a guerrilla militia along the Uganda-Kenya border, and accused top state officials, including Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki [official profile] and Prime Minister Raila Odinga [BBC profile], of being complacent in allowing torture of civilians to occur.

The SLDF is an armed resistance movement that has operated since 2005 in response to government resettlement plans that moved the Sabaot tribes from their ancestral land. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch also accused the Kenyan military of human rights abuses [HRW report] in its campaign against the group. AFP has more.