Secret Foreign Office files that came to light contain claims of brutal treatment by British forces in Cyprus, during the 1955-1959 EOKA anti-colonial armed struggle, citing cases of excessive violence and murder of citizens that were under custody.
According to the Times, the documents were disclosed in relation to the brutal treatment by British forces during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya.
The British newspaper says the files, hidden for 50 years, contain claims of torture committed by members of the British security forces and evidence that British soldiers killed citizens under custody and later covered up the case to skip charges.
The documents also show that soldiers chasing EOKA members also took retaliatory measures against citizens.
On October 3, 1958 three people lost their lives and an estimated 300 citizens were beaten up in Famagusta, in the eastern shore of Cyprus, following the death of the wife of a British sergeant.
Twelve year old pupil Ioanna Zachariades died of shock, however the British coroner ruled there was not enough evidence about what caused her fear.
Panayiotis Christoforou was found dead at an army truck without evident wounds, while 17 year old Andreas Louca died after suffering a strong blow by a sharp object belonging to a member of the military police.
Cyprus governor at the time, Hugh Foot briefed his superiors in London that no soldier should be charged, due to lack of evidence.
Two more men were shot in Acheritou, a village south of Famagusta, despite the fact that one of them, George Toumazou, was blind.
More claims, according to the paper, include beating up a pregnant woman that finally suffered a miscarriage, forcing a man to dig his own grave and claims by a Nicosia resident, Constantinos Ioannou, that soldiers asked him under gunpoint to admit he had committed murder.
British colonial rule in Cyprus ended in 1960, with the signing of the Zurich and London Agreements between the UK, Greece and Turkey, granting independence.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.
