LONDON, April 18 (UPI) -- Documents detailing crimes committed during the final days of the British Empire were purposely destroyed to keep the deeds secret, a review concludes.
The official review overseen by historian Tony Badger traced the papers that survived the purge to a highly secure government communications center at Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
Badger said discovery of the archive put the Foreign Office in an "embarrassing, scandalous position."
He said the documents should have been public since the 1980s.
The secret archive came to light last year when a group of Kenyans won the right to sue the British government for their alleged detention and torture during the Mau Mau rebellion.
The papers found at Hanslope Park include monthly intelligence reports on the "elimination" of the colonial authority's enemies in 1950s Malaya; records showing ministers in London were aware of the Mau Mau murders in Kenya; and details on the lengths the UK went to forcibly remove islanders from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Documents not destroyed appear to have been kept secret both to protect the United Kingdom's reputation and shield the government from litigation.
