London court's ruling permits former Mau Mau fighters to seek justice for alleged torture in British detention camps.
Four elderly Kenyans have been given approval from a London high court to sue the British government over alleged atrocities committed during the Mau Mau uprising.

The decision on Thursday to take proceedings to the next stage is a setback for the Foreign Office which had argued that the British government should not be held liable because legal responsibility has passed on to the present Kenyan government.

It also opens the debate over the possibility of additional landmark lawsuits against Britain and other European nations for abuses during the colonial era, one of the Kenyans' attorneys said.

Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba said the main aim of the case was "moral and not financial" and that much was yet to be decided about the next step in the legal process.

"There is some wariness from the claimants about the delays that could come before a trial. The Foreign Office is expected to raise issues of limitations, saying too much time has elapsed," said Baba from outside the High Court in London on Thursday.

"If the case is allowed to go to full trial, we're looking at sometime in early 2012," he added.

29 July 2011