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21 July 2011
Last updated at 05:50 ET
Four elderly Kenyans have been given permission to take legal action over alleged British colonial atrocities committed during the Mau Mau uprising.
The High Court ruled they could sue over alleged torture by the British authorities in the 1950s and 1960s.
Mr Justice McCombe said the claimants had an "arguable case" but it would be for a full trial to decide.
It comes as Foreign Office documents released in May showed that the alleged abuse was "sort of a guilty secret".
The documents give further details of what ministers in London knew about how the colony was attempting to crush the rebellion that paved the way to independence.
They contain reports of British officers implicated in atrocities, including the murder of suspected Mau Mau rebels.
'Arguable cases' The test case claimants, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambugu Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara, who are in their 70s and 80s, say the documents form a paper trail proving that London knew about and approved torture and abuse in Kenya.
They say they were systematically abused and tortured in special camps that had been set up to crush the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule and want compensation from the government.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) argued that it could not be liable because it happened outside of the UK.
But the judge rejected the strike-out application saying: "I have not found that there was systematic torture nor, if there was, the UK government is liable.
"I have simply decided that these claimants have arguable cases in law."
Are you in Kenya? Do you have a personal story to share regarding the Mau Mau uprising? What do you think about the ruling? Send us your comments and experiences
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The High Court ruled they could sue over alleged torture by the British authorities in the 1950s and 1960s.
Mr Justice McCombe said the claimants had an "arguable case" but it would be for a full trial to decide.
It comes as Foreign Office documents released in May showed that the alleged abuse was "sort of a guilty secret".
The documents give further details of what ministers in London knew about how the colony was attempting to crush the rebellion that paved the way to independence.
They contain reports of British officers implicated in atrocities, including the murder of suspected Mau Mau rebels.
'Arguable cases' The test case claimants, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambugu Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara, who are in their 70s and 80s, say the documents form a paper trail proving that London knew about and approved torture and abuse in Kenya.
They say they were systematically abused and tortured in special camps that had been set up to crush the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule and want compensation from the government.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) argued that it could not be liable because it happened outside of the UK.
But the judge rejected the strike-out application saying: "I have not found that there was systematic torture nor, if there was, the UK government is liable.
"I have simply decided that these claimants have arguable cases in law."
Are you in Kenya? Do you have a personal story to share regarding the Mau Mau uprising? What do you think about the ruling? Send us your comments and experiences
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials