Kenya’s Human Rights Committee is calling on King Charles III of Britain to issue a clear and unambiguous public apology for the violations that occurred during the British colonial period. This request comes during his visit to the country this week.
According to The Guardian, the Kenyan Human Rights Committee stated, “We urge the King, on behalf of the British government, to issue an unequivocal and unconditional public apology instead of the overly cautious and self-preserving statements of regret for the brutal crimes and inhumane treatment that the Kenyan citizens endured.”
During the “state of emergency” between 1952 and 1960, as Kenya fought for independence, British soldiers forced around 1.5 million Kenyans, suspected of being part of the anti-colonial Mau Mau uprising, into detention camps where they faced torture, rape, and other inhumane treatments.
It is expected that “the King will acknowledge the most painful aspects of the shared history between the United Kingdom and Kenya” during his four-day visit to the East African nation from October 31 to November 3.
In a statement this month, Buckingham Palace said the King would take time during his visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered by the people of Kenya during the state of emergency.
The Human Rights Committee noted, “There is no indication that the King intends to offer a full and unconditional apology for the colonial brutality in Kenya.”
In 2013, the United Kingdom reached an out-of-court settlement of £20 million with 5,228 Kenyans involved in a class-action lawsuit over the violations committed during the state of emergency. The compensation payment, accompanied by a “statement of regret” from the British government, followed an 11-year campaign and legal battle against the UK, initially brought by five Kenyans.
The case revealed, among other things, that the British destroyed or hid official records of brutal repression campaigns carried out by the colonial authorities. Historians have said that the documents found during the discovery put the UK government in an “acutely embarrassing position.”
As the revelations about the scale of colonial atrocities have come to light over the past decade, and similar accounts have swept across the Commonwealth countries, calls for recognizing and correcting these historical wrongs have increased.
