27 APRIL

SLAVE OVERSEER’S DIARY NOTES ON A SUMMER OF DEPRAVED TORTURE [ 26 May 1756 ] Today in 1756 in Jamaica, plantation overseer Thomas Thistlewood, who was unusual in keeping meticulous notes on the punishments he meted out to the slaves under his care, noted in his diary the depraved punishment given to a hungry slave,…

‘HEADS (OF BLACKS) FIXED ON POLES IN VARIOUS PARTS’ OF DEMERARA [ 18 December 1823 ] Following a mostly non-violent slave insurrection in the British colony of Demerara (now Guyana) in August 1823, in which the plantation owners had been locked into their homes, Governor Major General John Murray imposed a savage crackdown,  shooting dead…

A YEMENI CIVIL SERVANT’S BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH BRITAIN’S GUANTANAMO. ( change to 6 July 1966 – 2 am – See Amnesty International Report Appendix (p11) ) 5 July 1966 –  Hashim Jawee, a 22 year old Yemeni civil servant, was woken to the sound of his door being kicked in. He was taken away by…

AFRICANS SACRIFICED TO SAVE THE BESIEGED CITY OF MAFEKING [ 17 May 1900 ] On this day in 1900, a British army relieved the besieged city of Mafeking during the Second Boer War. It led to street celebrations across Britain and the commander of the besieged troops, Robert Baden-Powell, became a national hero, even though…

34 CONSERVATIVE MPS HOLD INVESTMENTS IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA [ 22 0ctober 1985 ] On this day in 1985, a Labour Party press release revealed that 34 Conservative MPs held investments in Apartheid South Africa and the previous year at least nine had visited South Africa as guests of the South African government. Even the…

UK REVERSES ITS POSITION ON GUANTANAMO, ACKNOWLEDGING THIS MIGHT INCREASE THE TERROR THREAT. An internal government memo dated 22 June 2018, leaked to The Daily Telegraph, and marked “Official Sensitive” noted that UK ministers would not oppose the US government sending two British terror suspects, Alexanda Kotey and Shafee El-Sheikh, to Guantanamo,  although at the same…