Colonial Brutality: Kenya's Detention Camps

BRITISH DETENTION CAMPS IN KENYA In the 1950s, Kenya was under British colonial

rule. Thousands of Africans, mostly Kikuyu, had risen up against land theft,

oppression, and injustice. The British called it the Mau Mau rebellion. For those who resisted,

the response was brutal. Entire communities were rounded up. Men,

women, and even children were sent to detention camps — isolated villages behind

barbed wire. These were not ordinary prisons. They were designed to break people,

body and spirit. Inside, life was harsh. Prisoners faced forced labor,

beatings, starvation, and humiliation. Many were held without trial.