Five elderly Kenyans have traveled to London in order to bring a lawsuit against the British Government over mistreatment during the Mau Mau Uprising during British colonial rule in the 1950's. The group says they were, according to The Guardian, "variously beaten, raped and castrated."
The Mau Mau Uprising was an effort by the Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru people of Kenya to drive the British from their country (the term Mau Mau is of disputed origin). The main cause of the conflict was land: white settlers had pushed native Kenyans onto increasing smaller and marginal areas, causing great hardship and resentment. The movement started out peacefully, but after exhausting all the usual nonviolent options, turned militant. Things got ugly after that. The rebels lost over 10,000 killed in action, British and allied Kenyon forces lost around 600. Over 80,000 Kenyans were detained during the rebellion. In the end, the uprising was lost, but reforms did emerge from the conflict. The Uprising is also thought to have hastened Kenyan independence, which came three years after the Uprising ended.
But even after independence, the Mau Mau's were classified as a terrorist organization by the Kenyan government until 2003, leaving citizens with no way to address their grievances.
They may have a pretty good case, and precedent too. Says David Anderson of the London Times "Despite a public apology made in 2004 and the pledge of increased aid commitments to Namibia, the German Government still faces claims from the Herero peoples over a genocide inflicted in 1904. The Italians, too, are entangled in claims from their occupation of Libya." He goes on to say the British will fight the suit "every step of the way."
One wonders how many lawsuits are pending for Great Britain and the other great imperial powers? After all "the sun never set on the British Empire." The litigation could go on forever. But that may not be such a bad thing - a little history never hurts. It may even prove instructive.
Photo: Flag of Kenya (Wikipedia).
