Britain to pay 'substantial' compensation to Guantanamo Bay detainee

Camp X-ray Guantanamo. (Wikimedia Commons/Mate 1st Class Shane T. McCoy)

JAKARTA - The British government has paid "substantial" compensation to a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was tortured by the CIA and has been imprisoned without charge or trial for two decades, according to his legal team.

Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian of Saudi Arabian descent, was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and became the first person to be subjected to the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" techniques after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The US claims he is a senior member of Al Qaeda, but has since retracted the charge.

According to a report by the US Senate Committee, his treatment included being waterboarded 83 times, being locked in a coffin-shaped box, and being attacked. His suffering in captivity became a blueprint for US brutal treatment.

During waterboarding, Abu Zubaydah, now 54, became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his wide-open mouth", according to the intelligence report, The National reported (12/1).

Former president George W. Bush claimed in 2006 that information provided by Abu Zubaydah under the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program led to the arrest of Ramzi Bin Al Shibh, a Yemeni citizen accused of being a key facilitator of the September 11 attacks.

The former president then claimed that the two provided information that helped arrest the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The British security service is accused of being complicit in his mistreatment by providing questions to CIA interrogators while he was held in 'black sites', secret detention facilities around the world outside the US legal system.

He was flown to Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania, and Afghanistan for interrogation before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.

The British Parliament's intelligence and security committee, which is made up of all parties, concluded in 2018, after a four-year investigation, that MI6 knew about his mistreatment and possible torture.

His lawyers are suing for illegal detention, negligence, and abuse of public office. The British government argues that English law does not apply in this case and that any claims must be filed in the country where the alleged torture took place.

Government lawyers argued Britain could not be held responsible because his personal injuries "were not caused by the filing of the question" and all "critical actions" were carried out by the CIA.

The UK Supreme Court rejected the government's arguments in December 2023, allowing Abu Zuybaydah, whose full name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, to file a civil lawsuit.

Now, a financial settlement has been agreed. The amount has not been disclosed, but Abu Zubaydah's lawyer said the amount was "quite substantial".

A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office told The National they would neither confirm nor deny intelligence matters.

"It is important, both symbolically and practically, that the UK pays for its role in torturing our client," Helen Duffy, Zubaydah's international adviser, told The Guardian, which first reported the settlement with the BBC.

"This settlement provides compensation and implicit recognition of our client's unbearable suffering at the hands of the CIA, made possible by Britain," he added.

He called on the government, which is "responsible for the ongoing torture and illegal detention," to ensure his release.

"This violation of his rights is not something that has been going on for a long time, but continues," said Duffy.