Dominic Raab faces legal action over his refusal to trigger a public inquiry into the abuse of thousands of boys held in youth detention centres from the 1960s to 1980s.
More than 2,000 victims have come forward from a single facility – Medomsley in County Durham – and many more have reported mistreatment at centres across England during the same period.
Several were raped and sexually abused by guards as children, and although several men have been prosecuted, survivors say the full extent of the horrors they suffered has not been properly investigated.
A group of survivors have now launched legal action over the justice secretary’s refusal to mount a public inquiry, which campaigners say is necessary to examine alleged cover-ups and collusion.
Claimants argue that Mr Raab’s decision was legally “irrational” and violates obligations under human rights laws, including the freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Dozens of men have contacted The Independent about mistreatment at centres as far apart as Kent, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire, including physical beatings, cruel punishments and sexual and emotional abuse.
John McCabe, who was targeted by prolific paedophile Neville Husband at Medomsley Detention Centre, has been fighting for an inquiry for over a decade and raised his case with successive Conservative governments.
“I think there are still more victims out there,” he told The Independent. “Husband was a prison officer and there are people who haven’t been held to account. The governors have never stood in a dock, never been questioned.”
Mr McCabe said Britain must learn about what led to such extensive abuse, and why it took so long to be uncovered, adding: “If we get to hear these people at an inquiry, we’ll learn how it happened and it will never happen again.”
Lawyer David Greenwood said he had personally received reports of abuse at “every youth detention centre in the country” in the 1970s and 1980s.
“A light must be shone on what is happening with those detention centres but we’ve got to start with some kind of official review into what happened at Medomsley,” he added.
“It can’t have just happened in isolation, there have been reports everywhere.”
Mr Greenwood, the head of child abuse at Switalskis Solicitors, said he had been contacted by 160 people held at the former Eastwood Park youth detention centre in Gloucestershire, but believes the true number of victims there will be more than 1,000.
“A large number of men are still tormented by their memories of painful abuse in detention centres,” he added.
“It’s affected how they relate to other people and how they’ve got on in life, and the numbers of people affected make it so serious that the public need to know about it
“They were in there literally in the care of the prison authorities at the time, who should have protected them from harm.”
Several prison officers have been convicted of abusing young inmates, although several of the accused were ruled unfit to stand trial for health reasons and others died before proceedings could be brought.
Last month, former Eastwood Park prison officer Patrick Devaney, now 81, was convicted of misconduct in public office after subjecting detainees to a “litany of cruel and violent acts”.
In February, former Medomsley officer Alexander Flavell was convicted of the same offence and indecent assault.
The 89-year-old, who had been ruled unfit to stand trial, was the last person prosecuted as part of Durham Constabulary’s decade-long investigation into the detention centre, which closed in 1988.
Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Ashton said: “The investigation into the abuse which occurred inside Medomsley Detention Centre in the 1960s, 70s and 80s highlights shocking and cruel treatment which many young people suffered whilst being detained there.
“In listening to survivors, it has been clear that as young people, they suffered some horrendous forms of abuse, committed by people around them who were in positions of authority and this never should have happened.”
Medomsley was excluded from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse because some inmates were aged over 18, while other detention centres have not been subject to extensive police investigations.
Answering a parliamentary written question on whether an inquiry would be mounted into historic abuse, justice minister Damian Hinds said: “The government has the deepest sympathy for the men who suffered sexual or physical abuse while detained at Medomsley Detention Centre.
“A judicial review claim has been launched in regard to the government’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into Medomsley. It would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.”
