A good start

Kenya has commuted the sentences of everyone awaiting execution to life imprisonment:

Kenya's President has commuted the sentences of all the country's death row inmates to life imprisonment.

Thousands of prisoners condemned to death have been spared their lives although Kenya very rarely carries the sentences out - the last execution taking place in 1987.

At the stroke of a pen, President Uhuru Kenyatta commuted the sentences of 2,655 male and 92 female death row inmates.

This is obviously a good start in the fight against the death penalty, and reflects the government's opposition to it. But capital punishment is still on the books in Kenya. It should be repealed.

Making their own terrorists

Last year, two men murdered a British soldier in the middle of a London street. Now, the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee has found that MI6 may have directly contributed to one of the killers' radicalisation:

The British government may have been complicit in ill-treatment of Michael Adebolajo, one of Lee Rigby’s killers, during his detention in Kenya, the intelligence and security committee has said.

The official inquiry into the circumstances leading up to Rigby’s murder also criticised evidence from the former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers, saying it was incorrect and that a document showing this was initially not given to the committee by the intelligence service.

Adebolajo alleged that he was beaten and on more than one occasion threatened with electrocution and rape during his detention in Kenya in 2010. The ISC said he had gone there to join extremists in neighbouring Somalia.

The implication: if MI6 hadn't been complicit in Adebolajo's torture, he might not have gone on to behead someone. British spies helped create one of the terrorists they use to justify their budgets and powers.

Its just another example of how the war on terror is a hugely counterproductive exercise which exacerbates rather than prevents terrorism. Sadly, the spies and generals who gain power and prestige from waging it and the politicians who have to appear "tough" seem incapable of understanding that. And its ordinary people, not those spies, generals and politicians, who pay the price.

Some justice for Kenya

Between 1952 and 1956, the British waged a dirty colonial war in Kenya against the Mau-Mau. Opponents of the colonial regime were detained in camps, deported to reserves, and of course murdered, tortured, and raped. The extent of the atrocities was exposed by the release of the British Colonial Office's secret archive last year: beatings, castration, water torture, and the roasting alive of a prisoner. But now, the UK government is finally doing the right thing and compensating its victims:

Kenyans tortured by British colonial forces during the Mau Mau uprising will receive payouts totalling £20m, Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced.

He said the UK government recognised Kenyans were tortured and it "sincerely regrets" the abuses that took place.

A lawyer for the victims said they "at last have the recognition and justice they have sought for many years".

But read the fine print: the compensation is a paltry £3,000 per surviving victim (for torture and castration, remember), and the government accepts no legal liability. What should be an apology and recognition of wrongdoing has been sullied by cheapness and a refusal to accept responsibility for the wrong that was done. Looking at it from a country which specialises in apologies for past colonial wrongdoing, it looks more than a little halfhearted.

But then, the Kenyans weren't Britain's only victims. There are others in Cyprus, Malaysia, Yemen, Palestine and India who were similarly wronged and equally deserving of an apology and compensation. The UK's treatment of its Kenyan victims has one eye on limiting future claims from its victims elsewhere - a motivation which undermines the sincerity of their settlement.

It also has one eye on preserving the reputation of the British empire. But if there's one thing we should have learned, its that all empires are evil. Once you set out to dominate other countries, torture and oppression are an inescapable part of the project. Britain did it everywhere, the US is doing it now in Afghanistan and the Middle East (and increasingly to its own citizens); hell, we did it in Samoa when we tried to have our own little empire in the Pacific. If we want people to live in freedom and dignity, then we can't have empires. It's that simple.

Doing the right thing

Between 1952 and 1956, the British waged a dirty colonial war in Kenya against the Mau Mau. Opponents of the colonial regime were detained in camps, deported to reserves, murdered, beaten, and tortured. Britain's own documents - unlawfully kept secret until last year - show the extent of their crimes, detailing beatings, castration, water torture, and prisoners being roasted alive. So much for the myth of the "good empire" which "withdrew peacefully"...

But now, faced with its own confession of its crimes, Britain is about to do the right thing, and compensate its colonial victims in Kenya:

The British government is negotiating payments to thousands of Kenyans who were detained and severely mistreated during the 1950s Mau Mau insurgency in what would be the first compensation settlement resulting from official crimes committed under imperial rule.

In a development that could pave the way for many other claims from around the world, government lawyers embarked upon the historic talks after suffering a series of defeats in their attempts to prevent elderly survivors of the prison camps from seeking redress through the British courts.

[...]

As a handful of details began to emerge last week from the confidential talks between lawyers for the government and the Mau Mau veterans, the FCO said it acknowledged the need for debate about Britain's past, and added: "It is an enduring feature of our democracy that we are willing to learn from our history." Up to 10,000 former prisoners may be in line for compensation, if the talks result in a settlement. Although the individual amounts will vary greatly, the total compensation is likely to run into tens of millions of pounds.

Good. The UK government has committed terrible crimes, and it must do what it can to make them right. Ideally I'd like to see those responsible prosecuted, but like their victims, many of them - and especially the old men who authored and authorised this barbaraism - are already dead. So the best they can do is compensate those victims who still remain, and tell the truth about what was done, so the whole world will know of it.

But the Kenyans aren't alone. Britain also waged similar wars in Cyprus, Guyana, Yemen and Malaysia in an effort to keep these countries in a dying empire for just a few more years. Their victims in those countries deseve truth and compensation as well. Hopefully, settling with the Mau Mau will be the first step towards their getting it.

Justice for Kenya

Between 1952 and 1956, the British waged a dirty colonial war in Kenya against the Mau-Mau. Opponents of the colonial regime were detained in camps, deported to reserves, and of course murdered, tortured, and raped. The extent of the atrocities was exposed by the release of the British Colonial Office's secret archive last year: beatings, castration, water torture, and the roasting alive of a prisoner

But now, three Kenyan victims of these atrocities have won the right to sue the British government for their mistreatment:

Three Kenyans who were tortured by British colonial authorities can proceed with their legal claims against the UK government, a court has ruled.

London's High Court ruled the case, relating to the 1950s Mau Mau uprising, could proceed despite the time elapsed.

The ruling means the case will now go to a full trial. Lawyers for the three hailed it as a "historic" judgement.

Appallingly, the British government has admitted the facts of the cases (which include beating, castration, and rape), but says that (thanks to independence) Kenya is now responsible for British crimes (an extremely perverse form of legal victim-blaming). Fortunately, the courts have rejected that position. An appeal is still possible, but it looks like there might finally be justice for Kenya.

Progress

It looks like climate change isn't the only area where Japan’s change of government will make a real difference. The new government has appointed Keiko Chiba, a long-standing opponent of the death-penalty, as Justice Minister. While she is being circumspect, it is highly unlikely she will be signing any death warrants any time soon - meaning a de facto moratorium in Japan. Even better, she is now calling for a debate on abolition and replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment - a move which would leave the US isolated as the only industrialised democracy to retain the death penalty.

Japan isn't the only place where we're seeing progress. Serious moves towards abolition are now underway in Lebanon and Kenya. Hopefully both will be successful.

"Free and fair presidential elections"

That's the motto of the Electoral Commission of Kenya. Unfortunately, in their most recent election, it seems they have failed to live up to it. Rather than being free and fair, Kenya's presidential election was fixed by the ruling party. Here's what the EU observation mission had to say:

The General Elections in the Republic of Kenya have fallen short of key international and regional standards for democratic elections. They were marred by a lack of transparency in the processing and tallying of presidential results, which raises concerns about the accuracy of the final result.

"Concerns" being diplomatic-speak for the following:

EU observers reported tallying results from the Kieni and Molo constituencies which contained a significantly lower number of votes for one of the candidates [President Mwai Kibaki] than the ones announced at ECK headquarters

The fix was so blatant that it was immediately challenged, resulting in a suspension in the announcement of results, then a media blackout, then rioting as outraged Kenyans took to the streets in anger. Now over 100 people are dead, and the toll looks set to rise despite the opposition's calls for calm. The opposition is now looking at using people power tactics, as seen in Ukraine, Georgia, and the Philippines, but they rely on the government having a sense of shame. Unfortunately, Kenya's government and security services don't, so I doubt they'll be successful.

The EU observation mission's preliminary report is here [PDF].

Kenyan elections

Kenya went to the polls yesterday in what is turning out to be a nail-bitingly close election which could herald significant change. Already, twenty Ministers in President Mwai Kibaki's government have lost their seats, while interim results show Kibaki trailing opposition leader Raila Odinga. Kibaki seems to have made up most of the gap stated in that report, but latest results show him still behind by about 230,000 votes. Unfortunately, without a turnout figure, it's difficult to know whether he'll be able to close the gap or not.

If Odinga wins, it will be the first time in Kenya's history that an incumbent President has been defeated at the ballot box. Which is something to celebrate, regardless of what you think of the actual candidates.