Mau Mau torture claim Kenyans win right to sue British government

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Four elderly Kenyans who claim they were tortured by colonial officials and soldiers during the Mau Mau insurgency in the 1950s have won the right to sue the British government for compensation.

Without deciding whether there had been systematic torture of detainees, the judge, Mr Justice McCombe, ruled they do have "arguable cases in law".

The decision is a setback for the Foreign Office, which has argued that the UK government should not be answerable for any abuses committed by the former British colony and that liability had devolved to the present Kenyan government.

Of the five original claimants, one has already died. The remaining four – Wambugu Wa Nyingi, Paulo Muoka Nzili, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua and Jane Muthoni Mara mostly in their 80s.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/21/mau-mau-torture-kenyans-compensation

[truedelphi]

1. Thank you for posting this story.

We often get such little tiny bits of news from this area of the world.

Thank you for the update on the situation there.

I hope these people win and win big.

[freshwest]

2. Time to end this game of not calling things what they are. Let's see if they're compensated.