The UK government is facing calls for transparency after reportedly making a substantial compensation payment to a Palestinian man still detained in Guantánamo Bay, over the involvement of British intelligence agencies in his mistreatment.
Former Top Legal Official Demands Ministerial Statement
Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General, has urged ministers to explain why Abu Zubaydah was awarded a payment, reported by the BBC to potentially amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Grieve chaired a 2018 parliamentary inquiry into UK complicity in US torture and rendition during the War on Terror.
"Somebody ought to ask a parliamentary question – and the government ought to make a ministerial statement," Grieve stated. He added that while the inquiry could see what happened, the reasoning behind certain actions remained unclear.
A History of Complicity and 'Harsh Mistreatment'
Abu Zubaydah was captured in Pakistan in March 2002 and was the first person subjected to CIA waterboarding. Although initially accused of being a senior al-Qaida figure, the US has since dropped that accusation, and he is not linked to the 9/11 attacks. He has never faced criminal charges.
Despite MI6 being warned in 2002 that Zubaydah was being subjected to harsh treatment, both MI5 and MI6 continued to supply questions to the CIA for his interrogations until at least 2006. This made the British agencies complicit in his torture, according to legal arguments.
A 2018 report by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) noted the severity of his conditions, stating it was considered that "98% of US Special Forces would have been broken if subject to the same conditions".
An Apology Demanded and a 'Forever Prisoner's' Fight
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not commented beyond a standard line about not discussing intelligence matters. It is not believed the government admitted liability in making the payment.
Human rights group Reprieve argued that compensation was insufficient. Dan Dolan, its interim deputy executive director, said: "If the UK government was complicit in Abu Zubaydah’s horrendous torture, they owe him a public apology, not just a cash sum."
Grieve described Zubaydah as "undoubtedly a direct victim of UK negligence" and said compensation was "almost inevitable".
Zubaydah, described as a "forever prisoner", has been in US custody for over two decades. His legal team, which once included the current Attorney General Richard Hermer, recently won a Supreme Court ruling in December 2023 that English and Welsh law applied to his case.
Disclosures from a separate case brought by Security Minister Dan Jarvis and MP David Davis suggest there could be up to 15 other cases where UK spy agencies are accused of involvement in mistreatment.
A promised public inquiry into such cases was halted under David Cameron's premiership, replaced by the narrower ISC investigation, which was barred from questioning junior intelligence staff.
