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https://theconversation.com/british-king-acknowledges-colonial-atrocities-in-kenya-heres-what-could-happen-next-216966>
"On his official visit to Kenya, King Charles III acknowledged Britain’s
colonial era “wrongdoings”. He also paid tribute to Kenyan soldiers who had
participated in the first and second world wars on behalf of Britain. His visit
coincided with Kenya’s 60th independence anniversary.
British colonial rule in Kenya was characterised by injustices. Among these
were forceful dispossession of indigenous people’s land, torture, detention and
brutal suppression of anti-colonial movements.
An excerpt from King Charles’s speech is useful to decipher the value and
implications of his apology, from an international law perspective:
The wrongdoings of the past are a cause of the greatest sorrow and the
deepest regret. There were abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence
committed against Kenyans as they waged, as you said at the United Nations,
a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty – and for that, there
can be no excuse. In coming back to Kenya, it matters greatly to me that I
should deepen my own understanding of these wrongs, and that I meet some of
those whose lives and communities were so grievously affected.
The legacy of colonial rule is similarly apparent in other east African
contexts. German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier recently extended a similar
gesture in Tanzania over the brutal suppression of anti-colonial movements. In
2020, Belgium’s King Philippe expressed regrets about the colonial legacy in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Are public acknowledgements like this just symbolic? Or do they have the
potential to elicit reparations under international law?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
