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Methodology

This report is based on field investigations by Human Rights Watch in the Mt. Elgon area during March and April 2008, and follow-up research from London in May and June 2008 and in Nairobi in July 2008.  In March and April 2008 Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 100 victims and eyewitnesses as well as members of the police force and army, government officials, journalists, human rights activists, medical staff, and humanitarian workers for this report.

Human Rights Watch also collaborated with Kenyan human rights activists who have long tried to bring a national spotlight to bear on the Mt. Elgon situation. These include but are not limited to Mwatikho Torture Survivors Organization, Western Kenya Human Rights Watch (WKHRW),1 and Western Kenya Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. 

To ensure that Human Rights Watch obtained a full spectrum of views and experiences of the conflict, interviewees were selected from different ethnic groups, (Sabaot, Bukusu, and Teso), different political affiliations (Orange Democratic Movement, Party of National Unity, and SAFINA) and from different locations on the mountain, with the assistance of different Kenyan and international organizations working in the area. Human Rights Watch researchers visited eight locations in the area, including Kitale, Bungoma, Kapsokwony, Cheptais, Sirisia, Lwandanyi, Malakisi, and Lwahaha.




1 Western Kenya Human Rights Watch is an independent Kenyan non-governmental organization based in Bungoma that has no affiliation of any form to Human Rights Watch.