Kenya's Ethnic Communities Reportedly Demand $198Bln From UK For Colonial Crimes

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kenyan citizens representing several ethnic communities have filed a lawsuit against the United Kingdom in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for damage done during the colonial rule of the British Empire, The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to news outlet, representatives of the Talai and Kipsigis ethnic groups are accusing the UK of stealing land, evicting indigenous people and torturing them, and are seeking for a compensation of 168 billion pounds ($198 billion).

“The UK government has ducked and dived, and sadly avoided every possible avenue of redress,” Joel Kimutai Bosek, one of the lawyers who filed the case, was quoted as saying. “We have no choice but to proceed to court for our clients so that history can be righted.”

Ethnic communities said their ancestors were forcibly evicted from the land to set up tea plantations, and were subjected to violence when trying to resist, which resulted in many deaths.

After Kenya gained independence in 1963, many survivors returned to their former areas of residence, but their land rights were not restored and they settled next to tea plantations, according to the newspaper.

Some of the largest and most successful tea companies, such as Lipton, Unilever, Williamson Tea and Finlay's, are located on the site of the lands owned by the plaintiffs' ancestors, generating huge revenues for the UK, the report reads.

The ECHR will now decide whether or not to hear their case, while the UK government has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.