Three Kenyans win right to sue Britain for colonial-era 'abuses'

LONDON - Three elderly Kenyans who claim they were victims of torture and sexual abuse at the hands of British colonial rulers during the 1950s Mau Mau uprising were on Friday given the right to sue Britain.

The judgement at the High Court in London came after a two-week hearing in July on allegations that Jane Muthoni Mara, Paulo Muoka Nzili and Wambugu Wa Nyingi were subjected to torture and sexual mutilation.

The trio's lawyers said Nzili was castrated, Nyingi severely beaten and Mara subjected to appalling sexual abuse in detention camps during the Mau Mau rebellion.

A fourth claimant, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, has died since legal proceedings began.

High Court judge Richard McCombe ruled on Friday that "a fair trial on this part of the case does remain possible and that the evidence on both sides remains significantly cogent for the Court to complete its task satisfactorily".

The judge said: "I am justified in concluding that the available documentary base is very substantial indeed and capable of giving a very full picture of what was going on in government and military circles in both London and Kenya during the 'emergency'."

Supporters of the Kenyans wept when they heard the judgement, although the claimants themselves were not in court.

The hearings will have access to an archive of 8,000 secret files that were sent back to Britain after Kenya became independent in 1963.

The British government accepts that British forces tortured detainees but denies liability and says it will appeal against the decision.

London had initially argued that all liabilities were transferred to the new rulers of Kenya when the east African country was granted independence and that it could not be held liable now.

But in 2011, a High Court judge ruled the claimants did have a valid case. The Kenyans' lawyers say they want an apology and the establishment of a welfare fund to ensure that around 1,000 surviving former detainees can have some dignity in their old age.

At least 10,000 people died during the 1952-1960 Mau Mau uprising, with some sources giving far higher estimates of the number killed.

Tens of thousands were detained, including US President Barack Obama's grandfather.

The case still arouses high emotions in Africa. South Africa's Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron this year accusing Britain of neglecting its human rights duties over the case.

The retired archbishop said Britain's unwillingness to make amends is "strongly out of step with many other modern democracies that have been faced with historic allegations of abusive conduct"