Colonial sins return to haunt former world powers

[NewsCaster]

Express Newspapers / Hulton Archive via Getty ImagesBritish police examine suspects for the seven initiation cuts on the body that marked a member of the Mau Mau secret society in this November 1952 image.By NBC News' Ian Johnston, Nancy Ing and Ploy BunlueslipLONDON -- It is a court case that could reverberate round the world: Three elderly Kenyans are suing the U.K. government for torture inflicted by the colonial regime during the African country's struggle for independence.

If the Kenyans win -- a ruling on the case is expected later this week -- claims from others involved in the so-called Mau Mau uprising are highly likely and experts say it could set a precedent that would help victims of abuses in others countries that were once part of the British Empire.

The court case could also attract the attention of President Barack Obama. In his book “Dreams From My Father,” Obama said he was told by his step-grandmother Sarah that his Kenyan grandfather Onyango was held for six months in a detention camp by the colonial authorities. “When he returned … he was very thin and dirty. He had difficulty walking, and his head was full of lice,” Obama wrote.

NBCNews