Some of the many Kikuyu tribesmen who were detained as Mau Mau suspects after the compulsory evacuation of all those Kikuyu’s accused of squatting in European farms in the Thomsons Falls area, Kenya on Nov. 30, 1952. The enclosure is surrounded by barbed wire. The tall structure seen in center background is one of the portable gallows brought from Nairobi for hangings. Eric Davies the member for Native Affairs, unseen, speaking in the Legislative Council during the committee on estimates, said on November 28, that the number of Kikuyu now interned at Thomsons Falls and in the Likipia area was 3,500. They were divided into those who came from the Nyeri, Fort Hall and Kiambu districts. (AP Photo)
UK reiterates apologies to Kenya for abuses during colonial era
The UK government has reiterated its stance “against cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment” in response to a report by UN investigators into the treatment of Kenyans by the British colonial authorities in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
The report, which was made public on Monday, highlighted the horrific abuses people in a part of western Kenya – now Kericho county – were subjected to.
The authors had handed it over at the end of May and gave the UK authorities 60 days to respond.
There has not yet been a response and the UN investigators – known as special rapporteurs – said they were disappointed that there was no apology for what had happened and no move for compensation.
In a response sent to the BBC, a government spokesperson said:
“A UK Government statement made in 2013, recognising the victims of torture and ill-treatment during the emergency period, was part of the settlement by the UK Government of claims made by Kenyan citizens.
“We regret that these abuses took place, and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence.”
However, the 2013 statement specifically referred to the British treatment of suspected Mau Mau members and others and not the broader context of what happened in the colonial era.