Difference between revisions of "Ian Henderson"
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| − | '''Ian Henderson''' is a British citizen known for his | + | '''Ian Henderson''' is a British citizen best known for his use of torture to put down the [[Document:The Mau Mau War in Kenya 1952-60|Mau Mau Uprising]] in [[:Category:Kenya]], and later the 1990s Uprising in Bahrain as an employee of the [[:Category:Bahrain]] government. Some journalists have referred to Mr Henderson as the "Butcher of Bahrain" due to persistent and very credible allegations of torture.<ref>{{cite news |
| last = Thompson | | last = Thompson | ||
| first = Tony | | first = Tony | ||
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==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | Ian Henderson was born in | + | Ian Henderson was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but lived most of his life as a Colonial Police Officer overseas.<ref name="canthide" /> He grew up on a coffee plantation and had one sister, Joy{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. He married Marie in his twenties and had two children. Henderson currently resides in Bahrain as a guest of the [[Al Khalifa]] royal family. He owns a £250,000 home named "Stoke Shallows" in Holne, Devon, England.<ref>{{cite news |
| last = Mackay | | last = Mackay | ||
| first = Neil | | first = Neil | ||
| Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
| accessdate = 2007-01-01 }}</ref> | | accessdate = 2007-01-01 }}</ref> | ||
| − | Ian Henderson was employed as the head of state of security in Bahrain for some 30 years. He retired from his position in February 1998. Despite | + | Ian Henderson was employed as the head of state of security in Bahrain for some 30 years. He retired from his position in February 1998. Despite many allegations of torture and abuse throughout his tenure, both Mr Henderson and the Bahraini Government have always denied his, and its own, involvement in torture. |
| − | Prior to working in Bahrain, | + | Prior to working in Bahrain, Henderson served as a Colonial Police Officer in [[:Category:Kenya]] during the 1950s. Ian Henderson was famed for his role in capturing Mau Mau rebel leader Dedan Kimathi, which he wrote a book about, with the title "The Hunt for Kimathi",<ref>{{cite book |
| last = Henderson | | last = Henderson | ||
| first = Ian | | first = Ian | ||
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| publisher = [[Hamish Hamilton]] | | publisher = [[Hamish Hamilton]] | ||
| year = 1958 | | year = 1958 | ||
| − | | location = London}}</ref> also published under the title "Man Hunt in Kenya" by | + | | location = London}}</ref> also published under the title "Man Hunt in Kenya" by Doubleday. |
| − | Mr Henderson was awarded the | + | Mr Henderson was awarded the George Medal, the highest award for bravery to non-military personnel, and later the Bar to the George Medal, for suppressing the [[Document:The Mau Mau War in Kenya 1952-60|Mau Mau Uprising]]. '''Ian Henderson has probably done more than any single individual to bring the Emergency to an end''' wrote General Sir Gerald Lathbury when he left Kenya in 1957{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. |
| − | + | Henderson was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the CBE Medal for Distinguished Services 1952. He was honoured by Government of Bahrain with Order of Bahrain 1st Class and Bahrain Meritorious Service Medal 1st Class.<ref>{{cite book | |
| − | Henderson was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the CBE Medal for Distinguished Services 1952. He was honoured by Government of | ||
| title = Honoured by the Queen: Recipients of honours | | title = Honoured by the Queen: Recipients of honours | ||
| publisher = Belgravia | | publisher = Belgravia | ||
| Line 38: | Line 37: | ||
==Torture allegations== | ==Torture allegations== | ||
| − | + | [[File:Isa henderson cartoon.jpg|thumb|300px|A cartoon from an underground Bahraini opposition publication showing Henderson as the Genie of the Bahraini ruler Shaikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah.]] | |
| − | + | ||
| − | Ian Henderson has been accused by political dissidents and international human rights agencies (including | + | Ian Henderson has been accused by political dissidents and international human rights agencies (including Amnesty International<ref>{{cite press release |
| title = United Kingdom: Amnesty International welcomes investigation into Henderson's role in torture in Bahrain | | title = United Kingdom: Amnesty International welcomes investigation into Henderson's role in torture in Bahrain | ||
| publisher = [[Amnesty International]] | | publisher = [[Amnesty International]] | ||
| Line 46: | Line 45: | ||
| url = http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR450032000?open&of=ENG-BHR | | url = http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR450032000?open&of=ENG-BHR | ||
| accessdate = 2007-01-07}}</ref> and [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref>{{cite paper | | accessdate = 2007-01-07}}</ref> and [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref>{{cite paper | ||
| − | | author = | + | | author = Human Rights Watch |
| title = Routine Abuse, Routine Denial | | title = Routine Abuse, Routine Denial | ||
| date = June 1997 | | date = June 1997 | ||
| url = http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/bahrain/ | | url = http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/bahrain/ | ||
| − | | accessdate = 2007-01-07 }}</ref>) of | + | | accessdate = 2007-01-07 }}</ref>) of torturing Bahrainis while being employed as the head of state security in Bahrain for some 30 years. The political dissidents alleged that the torture was committed as a means to stamp out the opposition movement in Bahrain that called for the restoration of democracy. Ian Henderson retired from his position in February 1998 and these allegations were the subject of an investigation by the UK government. The Bahrain Government has always denied his, and its own, involvement in torture and as a result, Ian Henderson has never been charged. The Bahrain Government, because of an edict issued by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, grants amnesty to human rights abuses committed by any Government officials prior to 2001. |
| − | The question of the British | + | The question of the British Foreign Office's complicity in the torture has been raised in the UK Parliament several times. At a parliamentary session on 3 June 1997, MP George Galloway described Ian Henderson as "Britain's Klaus Barbie"<ref>{{UK Parliament|date=3 June 1997|place=House of Commons debates|speaker=[[George Galloway]]|column=298|url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo970603/debtext/70603-39.htm#70603-39_head0|title= |
Bahrain}}</ref>: | Bahrain}}</ref>: | ||
| + | {{QB| | ||
| + | Henderson might have walked from the fevered pages of a Graham Greene novel. He was an interrogator of the Mau Mau during colonial rule in Kenya in the bitter struggle for independence. So brutally efficient were his methods that, on obtaining independence for Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta tried to re-engage him in his own security apparatus. So notorious was Henderson that a demonstration was mounted by his victims and the whole affair became so scandalous that Kenyatta was forced to deport him. Via Ian Smith's Rhodesia, he ended up as the right hand man of the Al-Khalifa.<br/> | ||
| − | + | In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Henderson is known as the butcher of Bahrain. He is the head of the security services and director of intelligence and has gathered around him the kind of British dogs of war, mercenaries, whose guns and electric shock equipment are for hire to anyone who will pay the price. | |
| − | + | }} | |
| − | In the | ||
| − | |||
In September 1997, the [[European Parliament]] passed a resolution condemning the use of torture in Bahrain,<ref>{{cite paper | In September 1997, the [[European Parliament]] passed a resolution condemning the use of torture in Bahrain,<ref>{{cite paper | ||
| − | | author = | + | | author = Human Rights Watch |
| title = Human Rights Watch World Report 1998: Bahrain | | title = Human Rights Watch World Report 1998: Bahrain | ||
| year = 1998 | | year = 1998 | ||
| url = http://www.hrw.org/legacy/worldreport/Mideast-02.htm | | url = http://www.hrw.org/legacy/worldreport/Mideast-02.htm | ||
| − | | accessdate = 2007-01-07 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070103183431/http://www.hrw.org/worldreport/Mideast-02.htm | + | | accessdate = 2007-01-07 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070103183431/http://www.hrw.org/worldreport/Mideast-02.htm |
| + | | archivedate = 2007-01-03}}</ref> and called on Britain to order Henderson to leave the country.<ref name="canthide">{{cite news | ||
| last = Mackay | | last = Mackay | ||
| first = Neil | | first = Neil | ||
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| accessdate = 2007-01-07 }}</ref> | | accessdate = 2007-01-07 }}</ref> | ||
| − | In an interview published in the | + | In an interview published in the Sunday Herald on 21 November 1999, a Bahraini claiming to have been tortured by Henderson described the encounter: |
| − | {{ | + | {{QB| |
| − | + | "My first experience of Henderson took place in 1982 when I was hanged like a chicken at the office of [[Adel Flaifel]], one of Henderson's henchmen.<br/><br/> | |
| − | "I was hanged by my arms and legs when Henderson entered the room and said: 'Do you want to confess?'. He immediately assaulted me in an immoral way and after a while he left the room." | + | "I was hanged by my arms and legs when Henderson entered the room and said: 'Do you want to confess?'. He immediately assaulted me in an immoral way and after a while he left the room."<br/><br/> |
| − | |||
Hassan said he was naked at the time and Henderson beat him over the buttocks. He went on: "The encounter lasted about 10 minutes during which I was in severe pain. The three torturers - Flaifel, Abdulla Al Tanak and Abdulla Al Dowsari - stopped when he entered the room awaiting further instructions from him, but upon receiving satisfactory approval from him, they resumed their beating.<ref>{{cite news | Hassan said he was naked at the time and Henderson beat him over the buttocks. He went on: "The encounter lasted about 10 minutes during which I was in severe pain. The three torturers - Flaifel, Abdulla Al Tanak and Abdulla Al Dowsari - stopped when he entered the room awaiting further instructions from him, but upon receiving satisfactory approval from him, they resumed their beating.<ref>{{cite news | ||
| last = Mackay | | last = Mackay | ||
| Line 87: | Line 86: | ||
| accessdate = 2007-01-07 }}</ref>}} | | accessdate = 2007-01-07 }}</ref>}} | ||
| − | In | + | In Kenya, Henderson was known as the ''"torturer-in chief"'' and "was the prime mover in the preparation of bogus evidence in the 1953 trial at Kapenguria"<ref>{{cite news |
| title = Kikuyu hammered on the Anvil | | title = Kikuyu hammered on the Anvil | ||
| publisher = [[Daily Nation]] | | publisher = [[Daily Nation]] | ||
| Line 98: | Line 97: | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* Amnesty International: [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR450032000?open&of=ENG-BHR Amnesty International welcomes investigation into Henderson's role in torture in Bahrain](Jan 7, 2000) | * Amnesty International: [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR450032000?open&of=ENG-BHR Amnesty International welcomes investigation into Henderson's role in torture in Bahrain](Jan 7, 2000) | ||
| − | |||
* Human Rights Watch: [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/bahrain/ Routine Abuse, Routine Denial: Civil Rights and the Political Crisis in Bahrain] (June 1997) | * Human Rights Watch: [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/bahrain/ Routine Abuse, Routine Denial: Civil Rights and the Political Crisis in Bahrain] (June 1997) | ||
Revision as of 08:40, 18 February 2011
Ian Henderson is a British citizen best known for his use of torture to put down the Mau Mau Uprising in Category:Kenya, and later the 1990s Uprising in Bahrain as an employee of the Category:Bahrain government. Some journalists have referred to Mr Henderson as the "Butcher of Bahrain" due to persistent and very credible allegations of torture.[1]
History
Ian Henderson was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but lived most of his life as a Colonial Police Officer overseas.[2] He grew up on a coffee plantation and had one sister, Joy[citation needed]. He married Marie in his twenties and had two children. Henderson currently resides in Bahrain as a guest of the Al Khalifa royal family. He owns a £250,000 home named "Stoke Shallows" in Holne, Devon, England.[3]
Ian Henderson was employed as the head of state of security in Bahrain for some 30 years. He retired from his position in February 1998. Despite many allegations of torture and abuse throughout his tenure, both Mr Henderson and the Bahraini Government have always denied his, and its own, involvement in torture.
Prior to working in Bahrain, Henderson served as a Colonial Police Officer in Category:Kenya during the 1950s. Ian Henderson was famed for his role in capturing Mau Mau rebel leader Dedan Kimathi, which he wrote a book about, with the title "The Hunt for Kimathi",[4] also published under the title "Man Hunt in Kenya" by Doubleday. Mr Henderson was awarded the George Medal, the highest award for bravery to non-military personnel, and later the Bar to the George Medal, for suppressing the Mau Mau Uprising. Ian Henderson has probably done more than any single individual to bring the Emergency to an end wrote General Sir Gerald Lathbury when he left Kenya in 1957[citation needed].
Henderson was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the CBE Medal for Distinguished Services 1952. He was honoured by Government of Bahrain with Order of Bahrain 1st Class and Bahrain Meritorious Service Medal 1st Class.[5]
Torture allegations
Ian Henderson has been accused by political dissidents and international human rights agencies (including Amnesty International[6] and Human Rights Watch[7]) of torturing Bahrainis while being employed as the head of state security in Bahrain for some 30 years. The political dissidents alleged that the torture was committed as a means to stamp out the opposition movement in Bahrain that called for the restoration of democracy. Ian Henderson retired from his position in February 1998 and these allegations were the subject of an investigation by the UK government. The Bahrain Government has always denied his, and its own, involvement in torture and as a result, Ian Henderson has never been charged. The Bahrain Government, because of an edict issued by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, grants amnesty to human rights abuses committed by any Government officials prior to 2001.
The question of the British Foreign Office's complicity in the torture has been raised in the UK Parliament several times. At a parliamentary session on 3 June 1997, MP George Galloway described Ian Henderson as "Britain's Klaus Barbie"[8]:
Henderson might have walked from the fevered pages of a Graham Greene novel. He was an interrogator of the Mau Mau during colonial rule in Kenya in the bitter struggle for independence. So brutally efficient were his methods that, on obtaining independence for Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta tried to re-engage him in his own security apparatus. So notorious was Henderson that a demonstration was mounted by his victims and the whole affair became so scandalous that Kenyatta was forced to deport him. Via Ian Smith's Rhodesia, he ended up as the right hand man of the Al-Khalifa.
In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Henderson is known as the butcher of Bahrain. He is the head of the security services and director of intelligence and has gathered around him the kind of British dogs of war, mercenaries, whose guns and electric shock equipment are for hire to anyone who will pay the price.
In September 1997, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the use of torture in Bahrain,[9] and called on Britain to order Henderson to leave the country.[2]
In an interview published in the Sunday Herald on 21 November 1999, a Bahraini claiming to have been tortured by Henderson described the encounter:
"My first experience of Henderson took place in 1982 when I was hanged like a chicken at the office of Adel Flaifel, one of Henderson's henchmen.
"I was hanged by my arms and legs when Henderson entered the room and said: 'Do you want to confess?'. He immediately assaulted me in an immoral way and after a while he left the room."
Hassan said he was naked at the time and Henderson beat him over the buttocks. He went on: "The encounter lasted about 10 minutes during which I was in severe pain. The three torturers - Flaifel, Abdulla Al Tanak and Abdulla Al Dowsari - stopped when he entered the room awaiting further instructions from him, but upon receiving satisfactory approval from him, they resumed their beating.[10]
In Kenya, Henderson was known as the "torturer-in chief" and "was the prime mover in the preparation of bogus evidence in the 1953 trial at Kapenguria"[11] during the Mau Mau uprising.
Footnotes
- ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑ a b
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑ Henderson, Ian (1958). The Hunt for Kimathi. London: Hamish Hamilton. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto"). - ↑ Honoured by the Queen: Recipients of honours. Belgravia. 1995. ISBN 0908578466.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
- ↑ Amnesty International. "United Kingdom: Amnesty International welcomes investigation into Henderson's role in torture in Bahrain". Press release. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR450032000?open&of=ENG-BHR. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
- ↑ Human Rights Watch (June 1997). "Routine Abuse, Routine Denial". Retrieved 2007-01-07. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto"). - ↑ George Galloway House of Commons debates, 3 June 1997 col. 298 Bahrain
- ↑ Human Rights Watch (1998). "Human Rights Watch World Report 1998: Bahrain". Archived from the original on 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2007-01-07. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto"). - ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
See also
External links
- Amnesty International: Amnesty International welcomes investigation into Henderson's role in torture in Bahrain(Jan 7, 2000)
- Human Rights Watch: Routine Abuse, Routine Denial: Civil Rights and the Political Crisis in Bahrain (June 1997)
