Explain how the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya illustrates how counterterrorism measures often produce more violence and suffering than do the actions of terrorists

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• After the state of emergency went into effect, thousands of British soldiers arrived in Kenya and were charged with ending the rebellion.
• The government recruited and trained a large local force to assist the army.
• The ensuing campaign was ruthless and violent.
• 90,000 suspected rebels were detained in special internment camps.
• The level of rebel violence dropped as government violence increased.
• Mau Mau units were forced to retreat deeper into the forest in the wake of British military offensives.
• They devolved into forest gangs.
• Military and police units laid siege to the forest.
• After the summer of 1955 the Mau Mau movement became a paper tiger and the Kikuyu struggled to survive.
• This situation continued until the end of fighting in 1960.
• Government policy was ruthless.
• Over 90,000 Mau Mau suspects were interned during the state of emergency, and the conditions of custody were appalling.
• Thousands of suspects were tortured, and a few were executed outside of the justice system.
• Beatings were routine until suspects confessed that they had taken the oath and renounced it.
• As groups of Mau Mau detainees began to band together in prison, the government began to break up prison gangs by increasing individual torture.
• The military began employing two additional tactics in the forest.
• Separating rebels from food sources, they began starving the Kikuyu.
• In addition, after entering villages they systematically singled out women for rape and torture.