Torture: Britain to Pay Millions to Those Abused in Guantanamo & Other Prisons (BBC)

The BBC reports this morning:

Around a dozen men, who accused British security forces of colluding in their torture overseas, are to get millions in compensation from the UK government.

Some of the men, who are all British citizens or residents, were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

At least six of them alleged UK forces were complicit in their torture before they arrived at Guantanamo.

A ministerial statement on the out-of-court settlement is due to be made in the House of Commons later on Tuesday.

It is believed the government wanted to avoid a lengthy and costly court case which would also have put the British secret intelligence services under the spotlight.

Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil el Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes, Binyam Mohamed (pictured) and Martin Mubanga were among those who had begun High Court cases against the government.

They had claimed that UK intelligence agencies and three government departments were complicit in their torture and should have prevented it.

In May, the Court of Appeal ruled that the government was unable to rely on "secret evidence" to defend itself against the six cases.

Then, in July, the High Court ordered the release of some of the 500,000 documents relating to the case.

At least 60 government lawyers and officials have been working through the documents.

The settlement was believed to have been agreed after lengthy negotiations.

BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said the Intelligence and Security Committee and the National Audit Office would be briefed about the payments.

He said the government would now be able to move forward with plans for an inquiry, led by Sir Peter Gibson, into claims that UK security services were complicit in the torture of terror suspects.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said of the payments: "It's not very palatable but there is a price to be paid for lawlessness and torture in freedom's name. There are torture victims who were entitled to expect protection from their country.

"The government now accepts that torture is never justified and we were all let down - let's learn all the lessons and move on."

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