A landmark compensation case has been heard before the High Court in London against the UK by four survivors of colonial detention camps in Kenya. The case follows the release of previously undiscovered UK Foreign Office documents which relate to allegations of systematic torture by the British Colonial officials in the lead-up to Kenyan independence. The documents, which record the methods used and government awareness of abuses, were released following a case taken by solicitors Leigh Day & Co. Solicitors, who represent the now elderly survivors.
The case is supported by both the Kenyan Government and the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, which has released an open letter of support signed by many civil rights organisations and campaigners, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The hearing was opened with an application by the UK Foreign Office for the claim to be struck out. The Foreign Office does not deny the occurrence of torture but argues that the UK does not retain any residual liability, legal responsibility having shifted to the Kenyan government upon independence in 1963.
Martin Day, solicitor, speaking on the steps of the High Court at the opening of the hearing outlined that the case is "not about re-opening old wounds. It is about individuals who are alive and who have endured terrible suffering because of the policies of a previous British Government...what they primarily seek is recognition in the form of an apology that what was done to them was so wrong and a welfare fund that would enable them to see out their years with some element of dignity."
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