Analysis: Mau Mau claim will be fought every step of the way

The British do not use torture. At least, that has always been the official line, but as we square up to the realities of our past in the colonies and beyond, it is becoming an increasingly difficult line to hold. The case to be brought this week against the British Government for the torture of suspects during Kenya’s Mau Mau rebellion therefore promises to raise yet another set of embarrassing revelations.

..........................................................

Britain does not stand alone in facing such colonial legacies. 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. Silvio Berlusconi has gone further than the Germans, issuing an apology and promising a reparations payment of $5 billion.

Continue ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6560331.ece