Guantánamo inmate challenges CIA ‘black sites’ in UN human rights case

A Palestinian man, held captive without trial in the notorious Guantanamo Bay military prison for 19 years, is taking legal action against the US, Britain and five other allied countries before a UN human rights panel for their role in the CIA rendition and detention of terrorism suspects at “black sites” across the globe.

The rare case of flagrant abuse of captives by American military and spy agencies as well as authorities of counties hosting the US-run “black sites” is being brought to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (UNWGAD) by Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, known as Abu Zubaydah, the UK-based Guardian daily reported Friday.

The 50-year-old Abu Zubaydah, who was raised in Saudi Arabia, was detained in 2002 and turned over to CIA operatives overseas. He was initially accused of being an al-Qaeda leader, but the US spy agency concluded by 2006 that he had not even been a member of the terrorist group.

Despite being proven innocent, the US military continued holding him captive at the Guantanamo prison and torture site ever since, without any prospect of being released.

According to the report, UNWGAD -- part of the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights -- has a mandate to investigate individual complaints of arbitrary detention and issue opinions and rulings for compensation, though it does not possess the authority to impose sanctions on countries that do not comply.

Abu Zubaydah’s legal case, referred to the UN panel on Friday, states that he was kept in arbitrary detention and tortured in secret CIA interrogation facilities (black sites) in Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania, Afghanistan as well as the US military prison at Guantánamo.

He is also bringing a legal suit against the British government, accusing London of “complicity in rendition” for taking part in interrogations and receiving information it knew was obtained under torture.

The lawsuit marks the first time legal action has been brought against the UK, and US-sponsored governments of Afghanistan, Morocco and Thailand for their role in the CIA rendition and torture program.

“After 19 years of arbitrary detention, the only appropriate legal remedy for Abu Zubaydah is release and rehabilitation,” his international legal representative, Helen Duffy, emphasized, noting: “Recognition, apology, transparency, accountability and ensuring these violations do not happen again are all legal obligations, grossly neglected in the war on terror and the subject of this claim. But they are meaningless if ongoing violations are not brought to an end.”

“How the Biden administration responds to international legal claims like this one will be a test of its newly stated commitment to international rule of law and human rights,” said Duffy, who is also the director of the advocacy group Human Rights in Practice.

US President Joe Biden has vowed to shut down the Guantánamo military prison and either free or transfer the remaining 40 inmates, held there for many years without charges or trials. However, his former boss Barack Obama also pledged to close the infamous torture site but failed to deliver.

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