LONDON: Britain’s top court ruled on Wednesday that a Guantanamo detainee waterboarded by the CIA can use English law in his claim against the UK government over alleged complicity in the torture.

Abu Zubaydah 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.

Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times and suffered other physical abuse, according to a US Senate report, which said that the CIA conceded he was never a member of Al Qaeda and not involved in planning the 9/11 attacks.

Zubaydah claims that the British government is “vicariously liable” for multiple wrongs against him, including conspiracy to injure, false imprisonment and negligence.

He is seeking personal damages for injuries which he says were sustained during interrogation at CIA “black site” facilities in Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania, Afghanistan, as well as Guantanamo.

Zubaydah does not argue that UK forces were involved in his capture, rendition to the facilities or were present during his mistreatment.

But he does claim that Britain’s domestic and overseas intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 were aware that he was being subjected to torture, and even “sent numerous questions” to the CIA for the purpose of eliciting information from him.

The UK government has neither admitted nor denied that they 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 argued that the laws of the six countries where Zubaydah was held should apply to the case.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023