For nearly two decades, Abu Zubaydah’s name has been synonymous with the darkest chapters of the post-9/11 era. Now, the United Kingdom has paid what his lawyers describe as a "substantial" sum to settle a legal claim over its alleged complicity in his torture by the CIA—a move that brings both a measure of redress and a host of uncomfortable questions about accountability, human rights, and international cooperation in the war on terror.
According to multiple reports, including extensive coverage by BBC and The Guardian, Abu Zubaydah—born Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, a stateless Palestinian raised in Saudi Arabia—has been held without charge at Guantanamo Bay since 2006. He is one of just 15 men still imprisoned at the infamous facility despite repeated findings and official reports detailing his brutal mistreatment. His saga began in March 2002, when he was captured during a sweep of suspected militants in Pakistan. The United States initially claimed he was a senior al-Qaeda operative, with then-President George W. Bush publicly touting his capture as a major counterterrorism victory. Those claims, however, were later withdrawn; the US now concedes he was not a member of al-Qaeda at all.
Zubaydah’s years in captivity were marked by extreme and systematic abuse. After his capture, he was held for four years at a series of CIA “black sites”—secret detention centers outside the US legal system—in countries including Thailand, Lithuania, Poland, Afghanistan, and Morocco. He was, in fact, the first person to be detained in such a facility. The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence later confirmed that Zubaydah was subjected to what the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation techniques," but which most of the world recognizes as torture. These included being waterboarded 83 times in a single month, locked for more than 11 days in a coffin-sized box, left to lie in his own urine and feces, stripped naked and beaten, suspended from hooks just above the floor, kept awake for seven consecutive days, and doused with cold water whenever he lost consciousness.
It wasn’t just the CIA that played a role in Zubaydah’s ordeal. As revealed by two UK parliamentary reports in 2018, British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 provided questions for his CIA interrogators to ask, well aware that he was being tortured. Internal MI6 communications even acknowledged that the treatment Zubaydah endured would have "broken 98% of US special forces soldiers." Despite this knowledge, it took British intelligence four years to seek any assurances regarding his treatment. According to Dominic Grieve, who chaired a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, "We should have raised it with the United States and, if necessary, closed down co-operation, but we failed to do that for a considerable period of time."
Last month, the UK Supreme Court cleared the way for Zubaydah to bring a civil claim against the British government, rejecting arguments that his treatment was solely the responsibility of the countries where he was held. The court found that "his involuntary presence in any of the six countries cannot constitute a meaningful connection with that country," and emphasized that the alleged wrongs "were committed by UK intelligence services who were acting in their official capacity in the purported exercise of powers conferred under the law of England and Wales."
Faced with this legal challenge, the UK government opted to settle out of court. The exact amount of the compensation remains undisclosed—legal counsel Helen Duffy cited legal reasons for the secrecy—but she confirmed that payment was under way as of January 11, 2026. The Foreign Office, which oversees MI6, declined to comment on the matter, citing a longstanding policy of not discussing intelligence issues. Nor did the government issue any statement admitting liability.
Duffy, Zubaydah’s international legal counsel, was unequivocal about the significance and the limitations of the settlement. "The compensation is important, it's significant, but it's insufficient," she told BBC. She called on the UK and other governments "that share responsibility for his ongoing torture and unlawful detention" to ensure his release, stressing, "These violations of his rights are not historic, they are ongoing." In her view, "the settlement provides a measure of redress and implicit recognition of our client's intolerable suffering at the hands of the CIA, enabled by the United Kingdom." Yet, she added, "I am hopeful that the payment of the substantial sums will enable him to do that and to support himself when he's in the outside world." Whether that hope is realized, she noted, depends on the willingness of the US and its allies to secure his release.
The settlement is, in the words of Dominic Grieve, "a very unusual situation," reflecting the extraordinary circumstances of Zubaydah’s case. It also raises pressing questions about the broader legal and moral risks of intelligence cooperation with allies who may be violating international law. As Duffy warned, "This case is deeply relevant today, as states rise roughshod over international law and the world looks to other states to respond. There are critical lessons about the cost of cooperating with the US or other allies flouting international norms."
For Zubaydah, now 54, the compensation is only one part of a much larger struggle. He has spent nearly half his life in detention, much of it in conditions that would be considered torture by any reasonable standard. He has become known as a "forever prisoner," a symbol of the legal and ethical quagmire that Guantanamo Bay represents. Over the years, he has even published his own drawings depicting the horrors he endured at the black sites—a haunting testament to his suffering and the system that enabled it.
The UK’s financial settlement with Zubaydah does not signal an end to the questions swirling around his case. If anything, it puts renewed pressure on both the British and American governments to reckon with their past actions and to reconsider the ongoing detention of men like Zubaydah. Human rights groups and legal experts argue that while compensation is a step toward justice, true accountability requires acknowledgment, apology, and—most importantly—an end to indefinite detention without charge.
As of January 2026, Abu Zubaydah remains at Guantanamo Bay, his future uncertain, his past a stark reminder of the costs—human, legal, and moral—of the war on terror. The UK’s settlement may be significant, but for Zubaydah and others like him, the fight for justice and freedom is far from over.
