In 2009, five Kenyan people took a petition to the British Prime Minister’s office. They claimed they endured human rights abuses in the 1950s, while Kenya was under British colonial rule and demanded reparations. They had vivid accounts and physical scars from their experiences— but their testimonies were undermined. They had no documentary evidence that Britain sanctioned systems of torture against Kenyans— at least, not yet. Thousands of secret files were waiting to be discovered.
2009 年, 五名肯亞人向英國首相 辦公室提交了一份請願書。 他們聲稱他們在 1950 年代 受到人權侵害, 那時肯亞被英國殖民統治, 因此他們要求賠償。 他們有生動的敘述和他們的 經歷留下的實體傷疤—— 但他們的證詞遭到懷疑。 他們沒有任何文件證據證明英國 批准對肯亞人動用酷刑的體制—— 至少,還沒有。 有數千份秘密檔案等著被發現。
In 2010, a historian joined the trial as an expert witness and attested to having seen references to missing documents. They noted that Kenya had repeatedly requested the return of stolen papers, which the British government had refused. In fact, many historians suspected there were gaps in the archives. As a result, the court ordered the release of any relevant documents. And, days later, British officials acknowledged that 1,500 pertinent files were being held in a high-security archive. It soon became clear that these were just a small sample of documents Britain hid between the 1950s and 70s, while former colonies declared independence, as part of a widespread colonial British policy called Operation Legacy.
2010 年,一名歷史學家以 專家證人的身分參與了審判, 他證實曾經見過關於 失蹤文件的參考資料。 他們指出,肯亞不斷重複 要求歸還被偷走的文件, 而英國政府都拒絕了。 事實上,許多歷史學家懷疑 檔案中存有一些遺漏。 因此,法庭下令釋出 任何相關的文件。 數日後,英國官員承認 有一千五百份相關檔案 被存放在一個高度安全的檔案庫中。 很快就發現,這些只是冰山一角, 英國在 1950 到 1970年代間 藏匿了更多文件。 那時,先前的殖民地宣佈獨立, 藏匿文件是殖民主義英國 政策「遺產行動」的一部分。
The policy was for British colonial officers to destroy or remove documentation that might incriminate Britain and be of strategic value to the new governments. They were instructed to destroy, alter, or secretly transport these papers to the UK. Documents slated for destruction were to be burnt to ashes or sunk in weighted crates far from shore.
這項政策要求英國殖民官摧毀 或處理掉可能會被用來指控英國 並對新政府有策略價值的文件。 他們被指示要摧毀、修改, 或偷偷運送這些文件到英國。 被標記要摧毀的文件應該要被燒成灰 或在遠離海岸的地方用 加重的貨箱裝著沉入大海。
During the trial, between 2010 and 2013, an independent historian revealed they had located more than 20,000 previously hidden Operation Legacy files from 37 former colonies. Finally, an estimated 1.2 million colonial files, sprawling kilometers in the archive’s so-called “Special Collections,” were also exposed. And these were only the documents that British forces kept. How many were destroyed— and what information they contained— remains unknown. About 3.5 tons of colonial documents were slated for incineration in Kenya. Ultimately, Operation Legacy’s objective was to obscure critical aspects of the truth. In the words of Britain’s attorney-general in Kenya, “If we are going to sin, we must sin quietly.”
審判期間,2010 年到 2013 年間, 一名獨立歷史學家揭露出他們找到了 超過兩萬份先前被藏匿的 遺產行動檔案所在, 這些檔案來個三十七個 先前的殖民地。 最後,還揭露出檔案庫中的「特藏」 尚有一百二十萬份殖民檔案, 擺出來可橫跨數公里。 這些還只是英國軍隊保存的文件。 有多少文件被摧毀—— 以及它們內有什麼資訊—— 仍然是個謎。 在肯亞,有約三點五公噸的 殖民文件被標記要焚毀。 遺產行動的最終目標是要 掩蓋真相的關鍵面向。 引用肯亞的英國司法部長的話: 「如果我們要犯罪, 就要靜悄悄地犯罪。」
So, what really happened in Kenya? Beginning in 1895, the British administration forcibly removed people from their traditional lands, giving the most fertile areas to European settlers to establish large-scale farms. They mandated forced labor systems, implemented reservations for Indigenous African peoples, and restricted their movement.
所以,在肯亞到底發生了什麼事? 從 1895 年開始, 英國政府強迫人民 離開他們的傳統土地, 將最肥沃的地區讓給歐洲 殖民者,建立大型農場。 他們強制實施勞役制度, 針對非洲原住民設立 保留區,限制他們的行動。
Kenyan people resisted these incursions from the start and grew increasingly organized over time. One movement, the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, aimed to forcibly remove white settlers and overthrow the colonial government. When the British declared a state of emergency in 1952, they were giving themselves permission to take otherwise illegal special measures to regain control.
肯亞人打從一開始 就抵抗這些入侵行動, 隨時間,變得越來越有組織。 有一項運動叫 「肯亞土地及自由軍」, 旨在強制驅逐白人殖民者 並推翻殖民政府。 英國在 1952 年宣佈緊急狀態, 允許自己採取本來不能採取的 特殊非法手段來奪回掌控權。
The newly revealed Operation Legacy documents confirmed that people suspected of participating in the resistance were subjected to horrible abuses. Between 1952 and 1959, the British imprisoned over 80,000 people without trial, sentenced over 1,000 people convicted as terrorists to death, and imposed extreme surveillance and interrogation tactics. Some people were beaten to death. Others were raped or castrated. Many were shackled at the wrist for years. Children were killed. One person was burnt alive. Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua testified to being castrated while handcuffed and blindfolded. Wambugu Wa Nyingi said he was suspended upside-down, beaten, and had water thrown on his face until he could barely breathe. Jane Muthoni Mara said she was sexually violated with a hot bottle, and imprisoned for years without cause.
新揭露出來的遺產行動文件證實了 被懷疑參與抵抗的人 受到了可怕的虐待。 1952 年到 1959 年間, 英國未經審判就監禁了超過八萬人, 將超過一千人視為 恐怖分子判處死刑, 還實施了很極端的監視和審問戰略。 有些人活活被打死, 也有人被強暴或閹割。 許多人被上了手銬,長達數年。 孩童也被殺害。 有個人被活活燒死。 恩迪古‧姆土威瓦‧木托瓦 作證說他在被矇住眼睛 銬上手銬的情況下遭到閹割。 汪布古‧瓦‧尼吉說他被倒掛著, 被毒打,臉上被澆水 直到他幾乎無法呼吸。 珍‧姆松尼‧馬拉說 她被用熱瓶子性侵, 且被無故監禁數年。
In response to the new evidence, the British government issued a formal apology, and made an out-of-court financial settlement with the 5,228 Kenyan claimants ultimately involved in the case. The original five claimants had made history— and paved the way for it to be rightfully rewritten. The uncovered files challenge fundamental myths about British colonialism as a benevolent institution that brought freedom and democracy to its subjects, then graciously gave them independence. Instead, the newly exposed evidence confirms what many people knew to be true, because they lived it— and survived to rescue history from the ashes.
英國政府對新證據的回應 是做出官方正式道歉, 並達成法庭外和解, 和解對象包括與這件案子相關的 五千兩百二十八位肯亞索賠者。 原始的五位索賠者寫下了歷史—— 並為重寫歷史舖路。 被揭露出來的檔案 挑戰了英國的殖民神話: 它是個帶給其臣民 自由和民主的慈善制度, 接著還會親切地讓他們獨立。 反之,新揭露的證據證實了許多 親身經歷的人所知道的真相, 這些人存活下來, 將歷史從灰燼中救出來。