In this section of the Hansard Report (that documents all official preceedings of the UK House of Commons and the House of Lords), the then foreign secretay, William Hague, announces the out-of-court settlement of the case of Ndiki Mutua et al vs UK (2012 – see elsewhere in this section). Although the UK Foreign Office had initially intended to appeal the 2012 decision granting the applicants permission to proceed with their claims, it ultimately decided instead to settle the claims out of court.

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First of all, the Forign Secretary stated that ‘[t]he British Government sincerely regret that these abuses took place and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence. Torture and ill treatment are abhorrent violations of human dignity, which we unreservedly condemn.’ Apologies and assurences of non-repetition are among the measures included under the reparation known as ‘Satisfaction’. In addition, the agreement included monetary compensation,  namely ‘payment of a settlement sum in respect of 5,228 claimants, as well as a gross costs sum to the total value of £19.9 million. The Government will also support the construction of a memorial in Nairobi to the victims of torture and ill- treatment during the colonial era.’ (See a  report on the unveiling of the promised monument in 2015 elsewhere in this section). Such a Memorial also constitues one of the reparatorions of ‘Satisfaction’.

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Of additional interest for the purposes of the Nuhanvic Foundation is the Foreign Secretary’s reminder that ‘[w]e continue to deny liability on behalf of the Government and British taxpayers today for the actions of the colonial administration in respect of the claims, and indeed the courts have made no finding of liability against the Government in this case.’ The British government thus explicitly avoided establishing any precedent in respect of similar future claims relating to the alleged wrongdoing during its colonial administrations.