Den britiske regering ventes ifølge BBC online onsdag at undskylde overfor ofre, der blev udsat for tortur under nedkæmpelsen af Mau Mau-opstanden i kolonitidens Kenya og yde dem kompensation – gruopvækkende forhold under konflikten.
UK-based law firm Leigh Day is representing more than 5.000 Kenyan men and women who say they were tortured or otherwise mistreated by the British administration in the 1950s.
The Mau Mau, a guerrilla group, began a violent campaign against white settlers in 1952, demanding land and an end to colonial rule.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission says 90.000 Kenyans were executed, tortured or maimed (lemlæstet). It says 160.000 people were detained in appalling conditions in camps.
Victims have been fighting a legal battle against the British government for a number of years to get compensation.
The government had initially argued that all liabilities (erstatnings-ansvar) for the torture by colonial authorities were transferred to the Kenyan Republic upon independence in 1963 and that it could not be held liable now.
But in 2011, the High Court ruled three claimants (sagsøgere) – Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambuga Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara – did have “arguable cases in law”.
Their lawyers allege Mr Nzili was castrated, Mr Nyingi was severely beaten and Mrs Mara was subjected to appalling sexual abuse in detention camps during the rebellion.
After the ruling, the case went back to the High Court to consider a claim by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that the actions had been brought outside the legal time limit.
But in October last year the High Court ruled the victims had established a proper case and allowed their claims to proceed to trial despite the time elapsed (fristen overskredet).
Da Danmark tav- se telegrammet på
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/22-06-12/veterandiplomat-danmark-tav-om-britisk-koloniunder
Se meget mere om Mau mau-oprøret på
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_Uprising
