UK admits abuses took place in Kenya

PHOTO | FILE | AFP From left: Mr Wambugu wa Nyingi, Ms Jane Muthoni and Mr Paulo Nzili outside the High Court in London on April 7, 2011.

What you need to know:

  • Defence lawyer makes first ever public admission

The British Government on Tuesday acknowledged that colonial forces in Kenya tortured and abused detainees during the Mau Mau rebellion.

Queen’s counsel Guy Mansfield made the first ever official acknowledgement in the British High Court during the hearing of a case filed by three elderly Kenyans.

Mr Mansfield told the Kenyans suing for damages that the British Government did not dispute that “terrible things” happened to them.

Before cross-examining witnesses, the lawyer said he did not want to dispute that civilians suffered.

He then spoke directly to one of the witnesses, telling him he did “not want to dispute that terrible things happened to you.”

In the argument brought to the court last year, the late Mr Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, Mr Paulo Muoka Nzili, Ms Jane Muthoni Mara and Mr Wambugu wa Nyingi argued that they and others were herded into detention camps for opposing the colonial government.

Mr Mutua and Mr Nzili said they were castrated while Mr Nyingi said he was beaten until he became unconscious at Hola prison in 1959. Eleven men were clubbed to death in this prison.

Last year, the British Government argued that the veterans’ claims were time-barred and should be struck out.

But Mr Justice McCombe ruled that the Kenyans had an “arguable” case to present before the court.