Kenyans win UK torture ruling

[Zombie]

Today:

 

"Three Kenyans who were tortured by British colonial authorities can proceed with their legal claims against the UK government, a court has ruled. London's High Court ruled the case, relating to the 1950s Mau Mau uprising, could proceed despite the time elapsed. The ruling means the case will now go to a full trial."

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Good.

 

Only recently has the British government - my government - accepted that the British colonial administration tortured Kenyans during the "Mau Mau" uprising - widely seen as part of the struggle for independence from colonial rule. Quite apart from the appalling conditions in which detainees were kept, for a free society like Britain to have allowed its oversees administration to engage in torture is a disgrace, and insults the democratic values that British people struggled over centuries to achieve . The fact that atrocities occurred on both sides is no justification. Shamefully the British government is still seeking to avoid responsibility on the grounds of elapse of time and limitation and its claim that those responsible are dead so evidence is lacking.

 

However, documentary evidence that the authorities knew very well what was going on is pretty clear e.g. a letter from Police Commissioner Arthur Young to Governor Evelyn Baring, 22 November 1954:

 

"[T]he horror of some of the so-called Screening Camps now present a state of affairs so deplorable that they should be investigated without delay, so that the ever increasing allegations of inhumanity and disregard of the rights of the African citizen are dealt with and so that the Government will have no reason to be ashamed of the acts which are done in its own name by its own servants."

 

This is a landmark court decision and will have significant impact if the British government's appeal to quash the case is rejected, in which case the government will almost certainly seek an out of court settlement to avoid the shame and embarrassment of the litany of abuse, suffering and torture being exposed in open court. If not then the judicial system must facilitate an early date in view of the age of the claimants [one has already died].

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19843719