Ex-Guantanamo detainees set for payouts

The UK government is set to pay out millions of pounds in compensation to former detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.

One former detainee is in line to receive more than £1m (€1.18m) after the government agreed to settle a series of High Court actions brought by ex-Guantanamo prisoners and others, ITV News At Ten reported last night.

The Cabinet Office confirmed that ministers would be making a written statement to Parliament today updating MPs on the situation.

According to the ITV News report, the settlement followed negotiations held over the past few weeks at a secret location, with two QCs acting as independent arbiters.

David Cameron authorised the negotiations in July after a court ruling ordering the disclosure of confidential documents.

With some 500,000 documents said to be involved, the Prime Minister said that vetting the material would absorb huge amounts of time for MI5 and MI6.

Among those said to be receiving settlements are Binyam Mohamed, Bishar Al Rawi, Jamil El Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes, Moazzam Begg and Martin Mubanga.

Not all are British nationals, with some said to be asylum seekers.

Their allegations include claims that the Government knew they were being illegally transferred to Guantanamo Bay but failed to prevent it.

There are also allegations that British security and intelligence officials colluded in their torture and abuse while they were held abroad.

The Cabinet Office said: “The Prime Minister set out clearly in his statement to the House on 6 July that we need to deal with the totally unsatisfactory situation where for ’the past few years, the reputation of our security services has been overshadowed by allegations about their involvement in the treatment of detainees held by other countries’.

“The Government will lay a written ministerial statement, updating the House on progress.”

Former detainee Binyam Mohamed was granted refugee status in Britain in 1994 after seeking asylum from Ethiopia.

He travelled to Pakistan in 2001 – the year he converted to Islam – and was arrested there a year later on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, before being “rendered” to Morocco and Afghanistan.

After being subjected to alleged torture by his US captors, he was sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2004. However, in October 2008, the US government dropped all charges against him.

Mohamed was released and returned to Britain in February 2009.

British-born Moazzam Begg was also arrested on alleged terror offences in Pakistan in 2002 and spent two years at Guantanamo Bay before being released without charge.