WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-07-23 Time: 11:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
Four elderly Kenyans, who participated in the Mau-Mau rebellion against the British in the 1950s and 60s have won an appeal in the London High Court to try the United Kingdom (UK) for atrocities they suffered during Kenya’s liberation struggle.
The Mau-Mau war veterans had argued that they were beaten and sexually tortured by officers acting for the UK administration as it attempted to suppress the rebellion. The four claimants are calling for an apology and compensation.
In a case that is likely to mirror campaigns by some Africans to have colonial states offer compensation for damage inflicted during colonial rule, the London High Court judge, Justice Richard McCombe, observed that the claimants had an arguable case in law and that there was need for a full trial in order to determine whether the claimants had a strong case or not.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had tried to have the case thrown out, stating that it could not be held legally responsible for atrocities committed long ago outside the UK and that upon independence, legal responsibility shifted to the Kenyan Republic. The judge, however, termed the UK efforts to avoid responsibility as “dishonourable”.
The question on the lips of many is whether a successful case will set a potentially tricky precedent whereby former colonial powers are swamped with lawsuits for compensation.
There are several worldwide precedents for paying reparations to states or peoples in compensation for historical wrongs. On the African continent, a recent example is the case of Italy’s 2008 “friendship pact” with Libya in which the former paid the latter compensation of $5 billion as reparations for its 30-year colonial rule. The package involved construction projects, student grants, and pensions for Libyan soldiers who served with the Italians during World War II.
Some, however, argued that Italy’s compensation was not a blank check and that much of the $5 billion was earmarked for Italian approved projects to benefit Italian trade throughout North Africa. To this line of thought, the economic benefits for Italy outweighed the “reparations”.
It was Libya’s case that prompted African countries to raise demands for compensation for being victims of colonisation at the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2009.
The claim has raised questions about whether compensation to Africa is necessary and feasible. There is no doubt that colonial-era activities in Africa undermined the property and rights of many indigenous people.
Indeed, some of Africa’s problems including ethnic tensions and underdevelopment are, to an extent, traceable to the actions of colonial-era powers.
However some of the countries that may want to make reparation claims have deeply corrupt and inefficient governments that have wrought havoc on their citizens in ways comparable to historical colonial systems. The other issue is that some of the claims for reparations lack adequate documentary evidence to support them. Moreover, do the former colonial powers have the political will and resources to pay for compensation to Africa?
Justice must not be deferred or consigned to a forgotten or silenced history and while Africa’s claims to compensation may be legitimate, there also many more obstacles to encounter and overcome before the issue of compensation can be satisfactorily resolved.
Compiled by Timothy Walker of the African Conflict Prevention Programme of the ISS.
Original date published: 22 July 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201107230024.html?viewall=1