Britain to compensate Tortured Kenyans

{{The UK will compensate thousands of Kenyans tortured by colonial forces during an uprising that began as the British Empire wound down, a lawyer and expert witness have said.}}

“We have agreed on an out-of-court settlement,” Kenyan lawyer Paul Muite, an advisor to the Mau Mau veterans seeking compensation, told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

“[The negotiations] have included everybody with sufficient evidence of torture. And that number is about 5,200,” he said, declining to comment on the size of the payout.

Britain’s foreign office declined to comment on UK media reports that the settlement would total $21.5m.

Negotiations began after a London court ruled in October that three elderly Kenyans, who suffered castration, rape and beatings while in detention during a crackdown by British forces and their Kenyan allies in the 1950s, could sue Britain.

The torture took place during the so-called Kenyan Emergency of 1952-60, when fighters from the Mau Mau movement attacked British targets, causing panic among white settlers.

A formal announcement on the settlement is expected later on Thursday.

{aljazeera}