On the 24th anniversary of the opening of the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention centre, we have announced that the UK government has paid a substantial sum of money to settle the case brought against it by our client, Guantanamo detainee, torture victim and "forever prisoner" AbuZubaydah.
It is a matter of public record (UN Senate report, European courts and multiple UN reports) that the 54 year old Palestinian was brutally tortured by the CIA, with the support and complicity of many states. A UK parliamentary report in 2018 made clear that this included the UK, whose intelligence agencies fed the CIA questions to be put to him, despite knowing he was being tortured. This led to the civil claim, which the government has settled.
As discussed below, this compensation is important, but far from sufficient while he languishes in unlawful detention and ongoing torture in Guantanamo. It will soon be a chilling 24 years of detention without any charge, trial, or review of lawfulness by a court of law. The next step must be for the UK and others to publicly acknowledge their role, and to offer to facilitate his immediate release.
Our statement on this step forward in his long struggle for justice is here