Kenya: King Charles demands a “clear apology” from the Kenya Human Rights Commission
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza, Mamos Nigeria
The Kenya Human Rights Commission has called on King Charles to issue a “clear public apology” for colonial-era abuses during his visit to the country this week.
“We, on behalf of the British Government, issue an unconditional and unequivocal public apology for the cruel and inhumane treatment of the Kenyan people. In contrast, we urge the King to do the following: ”KHRC said.
During the 1952-1960 Emergency, at the height of Kenya’s independence struggle, British soldiers captured approximately 1.5 million people suspected of having taken part in the anti-colonial Mau Mau uprising. Kenyans were forced into concentration camps; Torture, rape, and inhuman treatment.
The King is expected to “recognize the more painful aspects of Britain and Kenya’s shared history” during a four-day visit to the East African country from October 31 to November 3.
The Human Rights Commission said there was “no indication” that the King intended to apologize “fully and unconditionally” for colonial-era atrocities in Kenya.
A 1957 letter from the British colony’s attorney general, Eric Griffiths-Jones, to British governors said that the mistreatment of prisoners of war was “disturbingly reminiscent of conditions in Nazi Germany and communist Russia.” Ta. Griffith Jones later drafted a law allowing beatings, provided they were kept secret.
