UK pays 'substantial' compensation to Guantanamo detainee over CIA torture claims
Abu Zubaydah alleges that London was "vicariously liable" for multiple wrongs against him, including conspiracy to injure, false imprisonment, and negligence.
The UK government has paid "substantial" compensation to a Guantanamo detainee who was tortured by the CIA and has been held there without charge for two decades, the BBC has reported.
Abu Zubaydah, 54, was the first of a number of prisoners to be subjected to CIA "enhanced interrogation" techniques following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The Saudi-born Palestinian - whose full name is Zayn al Abidin Muhammad Husayn - was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and has been held without trial at the US Guantanamo camp in Cuba since 2006.
He was waterboarded 83 times and suffered other physical abuse, according to a US Senate report, which said the CIA conceded he was never a member of Al Qaeda and not involved in planning the 9/11 attacks.
Britain's Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that he could use English law in a legal claim against the UK government over alleged complicity in the torture.
‘It's significant, but it's insufficient’
Helen Duffy, his international legal counsel, told the BBC on Monday that the case had now reached a financial settlement.
"The compensation is important, it's significant, but it's insufficient," she told the British broadcaster.
Zubaydah alleged that London was "vicariously liable" for multiple wrongs against him, including conspiracy to injure, false imprisonment, and negligence.
He sought personal damages for injuries which he says were sustained during the interrogation at CIA "black site" facilities in Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania, and Afghanistan, as well as Guantanamo.
He has not argued that UK forces were involved in his capture, rendition to the facilities, or were present during his mistreatment.
Accusing UK’s intelligence agencies
But he accused Britain's intelligence agencies - MI5 and MI6 - of being aware of his torture, and even "sent numerous questions" to the CIA for the purpose of eliciting information from him.
The UK government declined to comment.
It has neither admitted nor denied that officials knew where Zubaydah was being held at any given time, or that they were aware of his treatment, arguing they cannot do so for national security reasons.
It has been argued that the laws of the six countries where Zubaydah was held should apply to the case.
But in 2023, the UK Supreme Court upheld an earlier Court of Appeal ruling that the laws of England and Wales applied.