The UK government has paid “substantial” compensation to a man who was tortured by the CIA and remains imprisoned without trial at Guantanamo Bay after almost 20 years, the BBC can reveal.
Abu Zubaydah was the first man subjected to the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques after the 11 September 2001 attacks. It was claimed he was a senior al-Qaeda member. The US government later withdrew the allegation.
MI5 and MI6 passed questions to the CIA for use during Zubaydah’s interrogations despite knowing of his extreme mistreatment.
He brought a legal claim against the UK on the basis that its intelligence services were “complicit” in his torture.
The case has now reached a financial settlement.
Prof Helen Duffy, international legal counsel for Zubaydah, said: “The compensation is important, it’s significant, but it’s insufficient.”
She urged the UK and other governments that “share responsibility for his ongoing torture and unlawful detention” to ensure his release.
“These violations of his rights are not historic, they are ongoing.”
The Foreign Office, which oversees MI6, said it would not comment on intelligence matters.
The exact amount Zubaydah will receive could not be publicly revealed for legal reasons, Duffy said. It was, however, a “substantial amount of money” and payment was under way.
She added he was unable to currently access the money himself.
Dominic Grieve, who chaired a parliamentary inquiry that examined Zubaydah’s case, said the financial settlement was a “very unusual” situation, but what happened to Zubaydah was “plainly” wrong.
Zubaydah, a Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, has been held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006 without charge or conviction.
Credit: bbc.com
