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June 24, 2009

Veterans of Kenyan Anti-Colonial Struggle Sue Britain
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The British government is facing a lawsuit over the repression of the
Kenyan struggle for independence against colonial rule. On Tuesday, a
group of veterans of Kenya’s resistance movement filed a suit in British
court seeking compensation for human rights abuses during the Mau Mau
rebellion of 1952 to 1960. More than 100,000 Kenyans are believed to
have been killed in the British crackdown. Gitu Wa Kahengeri is a Mau
Mau veteran and spokesperson for the case.

Gitu Wa Kahengeri: “The colonial regime in Kenya at that time had robbed
all our lands, had broken almost every human right against us, and we
were living at that time in our country like slaves, and therefore we
rose up and say we must see that Kenya recovers its freedom and its
land.”

The British government has so far refused to recognize compensation
claims.



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