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A Guantanamo Bay detainee will be paid a “substantial” sum as he settles a legal claim against the UK government, his lawyers have said, as Kemi Badenoch said UK taxpayers’ cash was being handed to a “terror suspect”.
Abu Zubaydah, 54, has been detained by US authorities since his capture in Pakistan 2002 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, and in 2006 was sent to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where he has remained ever since.
Mr Zubaydah, a Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, who was accused at the time of being a high-ranking member of al Qaeda, is said to have been tortured by the CIA, including by being waterboarded 83 times in a month, and facing beatings and extreme sleep deprivation.
He brought legal action against the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office, as agencies liable for MI6 and MI5, as well as the attorney general.
The High Court previously heard Mr Zubaydah claimed he was “arbitrarily detained” at CIA-run “black site” prisons in Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania and Afghanistan, where he was “subjected to extreme mistreatment and torture”.
Mr Zubaydah claimed that the UK security and intelligence services sent questions to the CIA, despite being aware of how he was being treated.
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Commenting on the agreed payout, Conservative leader Ms Badenoch said on X: “We knew Labour’s Attorney General Richard Hermer defended IRA terrorist Gerry Adams and ISIS bride Shamima Begum, now we see he helped win a ‘substantial’ sum of UK taxpayers’ cash for a terror suspect.
“How can a man who aides Britain’s enemies be a part of Britain’s government?”
Shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick said on X, in a post accompanied by an open letter to Justice Secretary David Lammy: “Abu Zubaydah is held in Guantanamo, accused of training terrorists and working for Bin Laden.
“The Attorney General was his lawyer. And now Starmer is using taxpayers’ money to give him a massive payout.
“What’s going on?”
In a letter, Mr Jenrick asked if there was a court judgment for the payout and whether it has been appealed.
He added: “How can it possibly be a priority to give him taxpayers’ money?”
During the legal battle, the Foreign and Home offices neither admitted nor denied that they knew where Mr Zubaydah was being detained from time to time, nor that they were aware of how he was being treated.
They had previously argued they couldn’t publicly admit or deny details about Mr Zubaydah for national security reasons.
On Sunday, Mr Zubaydah’s lawyers announced a settlement had been reached between him and the UK government, with the exact amount to remain confidential.
His international counsel Professor Helen Duffy said: “The payment is significant, but clearly insufficient to meet the UK’s obligations. More must be done to bring this chapter to an end.
“Critically, the UK should seek to facilitate the immediate release of Abu Zubaydah, and other prisoners held without charge or trial at Guantanamo.”
She added: “This case is deeply relevant today, as some states ride roughshod over international law, and the world looks to others to respond.
“There are critical lessons about the cost of cooperating with the US or other allies flouting international norms.”
Prof Duffy continued: “This settlement is a step in that direction and long overdue. But it is flimsy justice while his rights continue to be violated at Guantanamo and responsible states look the other way.”
Sky News has approached the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Justice for comment.
