Strong evidence as Mau Mau file suit against UK
By Patrick Mathangani
Plans by Mau Mau veterans to sue the British
government for reparations have gathered momentum
following the completion of the first stage of
collecting evidence from former freedom fighters.
Nearly 100 former freedom fighters have recorded
statements detailing a shocking catalogue of injuries,
deaths and injustices meted by colonial forces in the
1950s, The Standard has established.
And excitement is building up among members of a team
preparing the case, following the impending
publication of the first book ever detailing the
brutal torture of Mau Mau fighters by the colonial
government.
The book, Imperial Reckoning – TheUntold Story of the
End of the Empire in Kenya, is being hailed as a shot
in the arm for the case because of the amount of
torture evidence it reveals.
The bestiality of punishment detailed in the book by
Harvard Professor Caroline Elkins has been compared to
the infamous treatment of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu
Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
It is scheduled for publication in the US next
January, at about the same time that the case is due
for filing in the UK. The British edition of the book
titled Briton’s Gulag – The Brutal End of the Empire
in Kenya, will be out in March, The Standard learnt.
Those preparing the case say the evidence by surviving
Mau Mau veterans and in the book, prove that the
colonial administration committed war crimes
especially after the state of emergency was declared
in 1952.
Kabete MP Paul Muite, who is among Kenyan lawyers
working out details of the case, said Prof Elkins has
agreed to give evidence in support for the Mau Mau
veterans’ case.
"The evidence is compelling; it is watertight. What we
have now cannot be shaken. I doubt if the British
government can stand up against it," said a former
colonial administrator, who has also agreed to
testify.
The statements by former fighters have been collected
by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), which has
also been mandated to push the case by the veterans.
KHRC’s deputy executive director, Mr Steve Ouma, said
statements that have been collected include those of
two men castrated by colonialists and two others whose
legs were amputated.
Women revealed how they were raped by whites, and a
"systematic" method of silencing dissidents also
emerged as the statements were being collected, Ouma
said.
Some of the statements are supported by documentary
evidence unearthed by Prof Elkin, he added.
The book catalogues scores of documents detailing
torture officially sanctioned by the colonial
administration in London. It also contains at least
one instance where the then Governor Sir Evelyn Baring
reportedly failed to order investigations into the
brutal killing of a man by one Chief Mundia in
Mathira, Nyeri.
Prof Elkins has spent nearly a decade unearthing
evidence of torture of Mau Mau fighters and their
sympathizers. He has made frequent visits to Kenya s.
Part of her startling evidence was made into a BBC
documentary, White Terror, screened in November 2002.
In the Abu Ghraib case, American and British soldiers
allegedly subjected Iraqi prisoners to inhuman
treatment, greatly embarrassing US President Bush,
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and their allies in
the invasion of Iraq.
"Neither Caroline, nor I could have predicted that the
last year would introduce the Abu Ghraib prison
scandal as well as increasing British and American
disillusionment over the occupation of Iraq," an
editor, Ms Vanessa Mobley, writes in New York.
She continues: "The research and reporting that make
up Imperial Reckoning began 10 years ago – the single
best indication of the extent to which the British
were until now successful in suppressing virtually all
records of this time." The lawyers are now fine-tuning
details on the planned suit, in what they believe will
build into a watertight case against the British
government.
But only 15 "of the very best" of statements by the
war veterans will be used in filing the case before
more victims are enjoined, an official said.
"We are looking for cases with glaring and visible
injuries, such as those maimed, raped and even
castrated, to ensure the case sails through," he said.
The London end of the presentations is being handled
by UK law firm Leigh, Day and Co.
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=3523
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