( CNN ) -- Decades after the end of colonial rule , thousands of elderly Kenyans are getting compensation and an apology from Britain for years of torture during the fight for independence . Britain announced a Â£19.9 million ( $ 30 million ) settlement Thursday for human rights violations during its colonial rule in the East African nation . `` The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place and that they marred Kenya 's progress towards independence , '' British Foreign Secretary William Hague said . The victims had accused the former colonial master of a series of human rights violations , including rape , illegal detentions and castration . `` The elderly victims of torture now at last have the recognition and justice they have sought for many years , '' said Martyn Day of Leigh Day , the law firm that represented the plaintiffs . `` For them , this significance of this moment can not be overemphasized . '' In addition to the payout for the 5,228 victims , the UK said it plans to fund the construction of a memorial in Kenya to honor the freedom fighters . `` This is part of a process of reconciliation , '' Hague said . He denied that the settlement could potentially open the floodgates for colonial-era claims from other former British colonies . Plaintiffs provided evidence of torture , and the amount of payout will be based on the scale , according to Donald Rabala , another attorney representing some of the fighters . The abuse occurred between 1952 and 1961 , when fighters from the Mau Mau movement battled British forces for land and freedom . Colonial forces killed thousands of fighters and detained others , including Kenyans who were not part of the rebel group . Kenya went on to gain independence from Britain in 1963 . Secret files . Day said the `` long , hard struggle for justice '' took four years . The Mau Mau veterans ' claims , issued in 2009 , faced resistance from Britain , which said the statute of limitations had expired . The veterans filed a lawsuit , but the British government asked the judge to throw out the case , saying it transferred all liability to Kenya when the country gained independence . Kenya rebuffed the blame and stood behind the victims . In January 2011 , Britain found secret documents detailing the torture , which provided a big break for the case , Day said . Britain kept immaculate records that revealed systemic human rights violations , including graphic accounts of prisoner abuse , he said . The Foreign Office was ordered to produce all evidence relevant to the Kenya case , including hundreds of boxes of files , secretly smuggled out of Kenya ahead of independence . Court paves way for lawsuit . After the revelation of the secret files , a court ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed to trial . Last year , the London high court ruled that three Kenyans tortured during the colonial rebellion could sue the United Kingdom for compensation . Thousands of others followed suit . The three men who filed the original case made numerous trips to London to give their testimony . They are among the group that will be compensated . After the ruling last year , thousands of miles away in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi , jubilant colonial-era fighters , balancing on canes , gingerly danced . Others prayed and wept . `` It 's a great day . I am as happy as the day I was released '' from the detention camp , said Wambugu Wa Nyingi , one of the three original plaintiffs . Who are the Mau Mau ? The Mau Mau insurgency was made up of Kenya 's largest tribe , the Kikuyu . Its members were against British domination and fought colonial forces for years . During the uprising , as many as 150,000 Kenyans were incarcerated in what was then British East Africa , accused of joining resistance movements started by marginalized tribes . Among them were many civilians , including U.S. President Barack Obama 's grandfather . Obama referred to his grandfather 's incarceration in his memoir `` Dreams from My Father , '' writing that he was held for six months by the British , but found innocent . CNN 's Nima Elbagir contributed to this report from Nairobi , Kenya .
The abuse occurred from 1948 to 1961 . Fighters from the ethnic minority movement fought British forces for land and freedom . Colonial forces killed thousands of people and detained hundreds .