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Church leaders back demands for compensation for Kenyan rebels
2003-151B
6/25/2003
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[Episcopal News Service]
Church leaders in Kenya are supporting a claim for compensation for veterans of an armed insurrection in the 1950s against British colonial rule who maintain they were beaten and tortured by British forces.
The fighters belonged to a group called the Mau Mau, which took up arms against white settlers but also targeted Africans accused of collaborating with the colonial rulers. In 1952 Britain declared a state of emergency in Kenya with the aim of suppressing the Mau-Mau.
Although reliable statistics are hard to come by, it has been estimated that 11,000 Africans died in the fighting, more than 1,000 were hanged by the British, and 90,000 were detained, while 37 white settlers and 32 other white civilians were killed.
The Rev. Peter Karanja, provost of Nairobi's Anglican All Saint's Cathedral, said compensation would help promote reconciliation between Britain and the fighters and their families. But Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said that while he 'guardedly' supported the demand, some Mau Mau veterans could be expecting too much, 'forgetting that freedom was the goal and was attained.'
Some church leaders suggested that if compensation was provided it should benefit all Kenyans and not only Mau Mau veterans.
It was reported in May that the anti-terrorist branch of Britain's Scotland Yard was examining claims that British officials were responsible for atrocities, including rape, torture and murder.
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