Legacies of British Colonial Violence: Viewing Kenyan Detention Camps through the Hanslope Disclosure

Abstract

A number of works have recently been published that seek to re-narrate colonial histories, with a particular emphasis on the role of law in at once creating and marginalizing colonial subjects. 1 Focusing Q2 on mid-twentieth century detention camps in the British colony of Kenya, this article illuminates a colonial history that was deeply buried in a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) building for many years. As such, the analysis supports the revelatory work of David Anderson and Caroline Elkins, who highlighted the violence that underpinned British detention and interrogation practises in Kenya. 2 In particular, the article explores recently

Carcerality and the legacies of settler colonial punishment in Nairobi

“…After 1956, it was 'punitive force' (Anderson, 2012: 21). Having begun as unregulated, such force became 'legitimated, regulated and legislated' by the state's carceral regime of detention camps and screening centres, often resulting in deaths (see also Duffy, 2015;Elkins, 2005). Over time 8000 women were incarcerated at Kamiti detention camp and Gitamayu, where the most 'hard-core' were held.…”