Post date: Jul 21, 2011 2:53:25 PM
A UK court gives the go ahead to four Kenyans Mau Mau war veterans to sue the Foreign Office for alleged torture by British colonial authorities during Kenya's struggle for independence in the 50's and 60's.
NAIROBI, KENYA (JULY 21, 2011) (REUTERS - Four elderly Kenyans were given the go-ahead to sue the British government over alleged atrocities committed by the British army during the anti-colonial Mau Mau uprising at Britain's High Court on Thursday (July 21).
The Foreign Office, which says it cannot be held legally liable, had asked Justice McCombe to rule on the preliminary issue of whether to throw out the claims.
The four former Mau Mau fighters Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambugu Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara, who are in their 70s and 80s, flew 4,000 miles from their rural homes for the trial this spring which centered on events in detention camps between 1952 and 1961.
They were not in court for Thursday's judgment but their organization said they were pressed with the ruling and they can see light at the end of the tunnel.
"We are very very happy with the ruling of the court in London today on our case. For a very long time now we have remained steadfast on our pursuit for justice, for torture that we suffered under the British government with today's ruling we are very happy that there is light at the end of the tunnel," said Mau Mau war veterans Secretary General Gitu Wa Kahengeri.
Kenya Human Rights officials said it was morally reprehensible for the British government to continue wagging war of attrition and called for dialogue between the claimants and the British government.
"We find it morally reprehensible for the British government to continue wagging a war of attrition against Mau Mau torture survivors most of whom are quite advanced in age and who needs to see justice in this case sooner rather than later. It is against this background that we yet again call upon William Hague, the FCO Secretary to organize a meeting soonest between the Mau Mau torture survivors so that an amicable settlement to this case can be reached along the lines of dialogue initiated between the claimant and his predecessor David Miliband," Kenya Human Rights Executive Director Muthoni Wanyeri said.
At the earlier hearing, the judge was told that Mutua and Nzili had been castrated, Nyingi was beaten unconscious in an incident in which 11 men were clubbed to death, and Mara had been subjected to sexual abuse.
Britain argues that legal responsibility was transferred to the Kenyan Republic when it became independent in 1963.