When the British tortured and killed 14 Cypriots with the consent of Queen Elizabeth

The rebellion of the 1950s for Cyprus had the black account of at least 14 young Cypriots being tortured in a very savage and brutal way and then murdered by the British forces.

Published by the Guardian, it features testimonies from British veterans and Cypriot rebel fighters, along with autopsy and morgue records, as well as previously unreleased material from Cypriot archives showing victims dying after being interrogated by British officers.

The dead, men aged between 17 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of belonging to the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters, known as EOKA, which organized a guerrilla campaign to overthrow British control in Cyprus.

Photos from the National Archives of Cyprus confirm signs of torture on their bodies.

In some cases, the images appear to show genital mutilation.

Torture Testimonies

“I saw the soldiers take Nikos Georgiou out of his cell, almost unconscious, foaming at the mouth. It made an awful sound like a lion growling as it died. They left him to die on the concrete outside,” said an eyewitness.

Although rumors that the British military used torture during its occupation of Cyprus have circulated for years, it is the first time that British forces, including its secret services, have been accused of a campaign of unlawful killings during the 1955 to in 1959.

The compensation of the British government to 33 Cypriots

In 2019, the British government paid £1 million in compensation to 33 Cypriots who claimed they were tortured by British forces.

Among them was a girl, 16 at the time, who said she was repeatedly raped by soldiers.

Although the government insisted the payment was “no admission of responsibility”, the new details will heighten scrutiny over the true extent of atrocities committed during the campaign to end British colonial rule on the Mediterranean island.

Book-Research on “14 Crimes of Empire”

These are the cases of 14 fighters, who during the 1955-59 struggle in Cyprus, were arrested by the colonial authorities and murdered in dungeons and interrogation rooms during horrific torture. A research by the author Elina Stamatiou, which started in 2018 and ended last September with their publication in Cyprus by K. Epifaniou publications.

Through the 249 pages of the book, the reader has the opportunity to mentally follow the last moments of these 14 people and face the raw and naked truth of the horror they experienced.

Their assailants, officers of the British secret services, under whose orders unimaginably sick interrogation methods were applied to extract critical information, which would lead to the dismantling of the organization and the arrest of the leader Digeni.

Inhumane torture

Sleeping in freezing water, sleepless wet cells, mockery, incessant beatings all over the body, coarse salt mixed with sawdust for food, urine with a spoon instead of water, artificial drowning, genital whipping with thick rubber bands, breaking locks with clubs, crushing skulls with an iron vise, were only some of the tactics employed by the experienced from their action in other rebellious colonies, interrogators of British superpower.

The author of the book, however, emphasizes that such crimes against humanity, such as torture, must find the way to justice no matter how many years pass. Their emergence to the surface, as he notes, is an obligation of privileged societies, because only then is the possibility of redemption (legal or even moral) of the victims, punishment of the perpetrators, but also redemption of humanity from the stigma of brutality.