Three Kenyans who were tortured by British colonists during the Mau Mau uprising 50 years ago have won the right to sue the U.K. for compensation, a historic ruling that knocks down the previous statute of limitations and could have major repercussions through the former British empire.
The Mau Mau rebellion formed in the 1950s as a militant Kenyan independence movement, and was met with harsh repression by British settlers—it’s estimated that several thousand people were killed during the revolt. The movement, which failed to gain popular support in Kenya, was crushed by 1960. The nation eventually gained independence in 1963, and a free Jomo Kenyatta became president in December of that year, but the effects of imperialism were difficult to erase.
Wambugu Wa Nyingi, 84, Paulo Muoka Nzili, 85, and Jane Muthoni Mara, 75 allege horrific torture: Nyingi was detained and beaten for nine years, Nzili was castrated, and Mara was repeatedly beaten and raped with a scalding bottle of water. Here, Mau Mau suspects are held in Nairobi at a Special Effort Camp in 1952.
