Death on Del Monte farm: report finds rights violations

Major human rights violations are being committed at a vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya where there have been numerous deaths and incidents of violence, according to an unpublished report.

- Emily Dugan Grace Murray Edwin Okoth

Its findings, seen by the Guardian, are highly critical of Del Monte Kenya and include claims the company's employees are working with a cartel of thieves, providing them with intelligence. The report says the farm has serious problems with organised pineapple theft, losing crops to gangs on a large scale.

British supermarkets that have been supplied by the farm were given a summary of the report conducted by the social auditor Partner Africa last month. Since then, police have been investigating another four deaths of men whose bodies were found in a river over Christmas after they went to the farm near Thika to steal pineapples.

In response to the most recent deaths, Del Monte said it was "cooperating with Kenyan authorities as they continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the four bodies retrieved from the Thika River".

The company said: "Footage from when the men attempted to steal pineapple shows no foul play on Del Monte's part."

Some supermarkets told the Guardian they had called on Del Monte to conduct a robust investigation into the latest deaths. Two said they had withdrawn the farm's products from their shelves.

The Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) first published allegations of violence and deaths at the hands of security guards at the Kenyan farm last summer.

Del Monte commissioned a human rights impact assessment of its Kenyan operations shortly afterwards. The report describes an intense conflict between loosely organised groups of pineapple thieves and Del Monte security staff, causing casualties on both sides, including injuries and death. It concludes the Kenyan farm is causing major human rights harms to its staff and those living in communities surrounding it.