Six former airmen have sued the Kenya Defence Forces demanding compensation for the torture they allegedly underwent in detention after the 1982 failed military coup.
The former Kenya Air Force (KAF) service technicians include Michael James Gitari, Samson Kipkenei, Douglas Macharia, Nelson Kiprotich, John Nyaga and Nicholas Njau.
The former officers said they were serving in various technical fields before the August 1, 1982, failed coup and were arrested and handed to the Kenya Army officers over suspicion of participating in the failed coup, on account of being KAF officers.
Justice Hedwig Ong’udi certified the case as urgent and directed their lawyer Mbugua Mureithi to serve the Attorney-General with the court documents within seven days.
The case will be mentioned on March 14, for directions.
The former airmen claim that they were subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment in a bid to compel them to confess.
The torture included being stripped naked in public, walking on knees and being whipped.
The court documents allege that they were also placed in overcrowded cells and sometimes in waterlogged rooms and solitary confinement.
They further allege that they moved from one detention facility to another in cruel and degrading conditions.
“As a result of the arbitrary and unlawful dismissal of the petitioners from service of the armed forces, the petitioners did not secure other employment for their peculiar technical careers in the armed forces,” Mr Mureithi said in the application.
They were detained without trial for more than seven months and later released without giving them a hearing or paying them their benefits.
Mr Mureithi said the dismissal from service was unlawful.
“A declaration that the arbitrary termination of the petitioners’ service from the armed forces without a hearing and any benefits was unlawful, inhuman and cruel deprivation of the means of livelihoods in violation of their fundamental rights to human dignity,” the petition reads.
They want the court to declare that their arrest and the unlawful detention were in breach of their rights.
The court should order the government to pay them general damages, which should be assessed by the judge.
Many torture victims including lawyers, politicians, journalists, university lecturers, former student leaders, soldiers, military officers and even prominent Kenyans have successfully petitioned the court and got compensated for the suffering they went through.
The highest compensation for torture was awarded to multiparty hero Kenneth Matiba who was given Sh978 million as special and general damages by Justice Isaac Lenaola, then a judge of the High Court.
The amount included Sh15 million for damages and for violations suffered and another Sh18.1 million for medical expenses and the rest was to cater for his businesses, which started collapsing soon after he was detained.
Former Alego Usonga MP and Standard editor Otieno Mak Onyango was awarded Sh20 million after he was arrested and detained over an alleged connection with the 1982 attempted coup.
