Tuesday 7 May 2013

imperial torture. the african roots.


This is more than just about    imperial British policy in Kenya. It is about the inherent nature of imperialism. Imperialism that, even today, uses torture and covers it up. 



Kenyan Mau Mau: official policy was to cover up brutal mistreatment

The Kenyan rebellion case could be groundbreaking in making the connection between wrongdoing and government action

Kenyan Mau Mau prisoners
Kenyan Mau Mau rebellion prisoners captured by the British in 1954. Photograph: Terrence Spencer/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image




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The claimants in the court case offer a small glimpse into the experiences of thousands of people over 50 years ago. But why have such grave allegations, including sexual assaults, beatings and torture, taken so long to reach a court room? Until recently association with the Mau Mau remained illegal in Kenya, and having been detained put the claimants at risk of prosecution if they came forward. Only when contacted by the Kenya human rights commission did they become aware of the legal remedies open to them. They have presented a strong case that the abuses they suffered – acknowledged by the Foreign Office to be true – stemmed from systemic factors instead of individual criminality.
Atrocities and torture during armed conflicts always raise a vital question: were the abuses caused by "rotten apple" deviants, or by policy? In his two judgments, Justice McCoombe has ruled that a reasonable case can be made for attributing torture in Kenya to government decision-making. The evidence base for such a stance was already strong before the lawyers entered court 73 in April 2011. Historical research by David Anderson, Caroline Elkins and myself concluded the security forces inflicted indiscriminate suffering from 1952 to the Emergency's end in 1960. The 1,500 Kenya files discovered among the secret Hanslope Archive add further grim details to the patterns already identified. Both the colonial authorities in Kenya and the government in Britain knew the interrogation and detention practices carried out by their agents were resulting in widespread abuses. The reaction was to cover up rather than clean up the brutal mistreatment.

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When other countries have examined their past through the courts, important changes in the public understanding of the nation's history arise. In addition, a large number of claims may come from other conflicts where Britain applied counter-insurgency measures. The prime minister received praise for apologising for the Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland in 1972, while hundreds of Iraqis have been compensated for human rights abuses suffered from 2003. Why will the government apologise for some episodes and not others? The Kenya case could be groundbreaking in making the connection between wrongdoing and official policy. Public inquiries, civil litigation and compensation are sometimes condemned for their intrusion on military and intelligence affairs in the last decade. We should remember they are only necessary because, from 1950s Kenya to the War on Terror, the criminal law has failed to hold the state to account.




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