LONDON – Britain will make payments to 16 former Guantánamo Bay detainees in an out-of-court settlement to end a series of potentially embarrassing legal battles over torture allegations, the government said yesterday.
The ex-detainees, Britons or British residents, were claiming damages over allegations they were mistreated during their detention abroad with the knowledge and in some cases the complicity of British security services.
“The government has now agreed a mediated settlement of the civil damages claims brought by detainees held at Guantánamo Bay,” said justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, adding that details were subject to a legally binding confidentiality agreement.
“No admissions of culpability have been made in settling these cases, nor have any of the claimants withdrawn their allegations,” Mr Clarke said in a statement to parliament. He did not say how much money the former detainees would receive. British media had earlier reported the settlement totalled several million pounds.
“The alternative to any payments made would have been protracted and extremely expensive litigation in an uncertain legal environment in which the government could not be certain that it would be able to defend departments and the security and intelligence agencies without compromising national security,” he said.
The civil cases risked exposing sensitive evidence that was potentially embarrassing for the government and could have compromised co-operation with key partners like US agencies.
A precedent was set when the previous government lost a legal battle earlier this year to prevent the disclosure of US intelligence material relating to alleged abuse by CIA agents. The material was disclosed during a legal battle by former detainee Binyam Mohamed, who alleged he was tortured in Pakistan and Morocco before being transferred to Guantánamo, and said Britain knew about this. He is believed to be one of the ex-detainees who will receive part of the settlement.
Mr Clarke said the cost of fighting the court cases had been estimated at £30-£50 million (€35-€59 million) over three to five years, and the out-of-court settlement would save taxpayers’ money. He also said it would free staff at the security services to focus on important intelligence work. Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman had said about 100 intelligence staff had been working full-time on fighting the court cases.
The heads of MI5 and MI6, the internal and external intelligence agencies, issued a joint statement welcoming the settlement, which they said would “allow the agencies to concentrate on protecting national security”.
Two criminal cases and 12 civil cases had been brought against the government before British courts. Mr Cameron, who took office in May, said in July Britain would investigate whether its security services knew about the torture of terrorism suspects on foreign soil.
He promised an independent inquiry into the allegations but said it could not start until the legal actions had been settled.
Mr Clarke said the settlement was an important step towards allowing the inquiry to proceed. It will not be held entirely in public as evidence is likely to be sensitive.