UK says ex-Guantanamo detainee pay-out will save millions

The UK government has said its decision to settle out-of-court with a group of ex-Guantanamo detainees will save the British tax payer tens of millions of euros.

Binyam Mohamed, seen here after his release, was one of around a dozen British citizens or residents who launched legal proceedings. The former detainees claimed the UK’s internal intelligence agency MI5, was complicit in their torture and co-operated with the US in so called extraordinary rendition.

The planned payout is also thought to total millions of euros, but is expected to be considerably less than a protracted legal battle and follows a statement by Prime Minister David Cameron in July.

‘‘Our services are parallelised by paperwork, as they try and defend themselves in lengthy court cases with uncertain rules. Our reputation as a country that believes in human rights, justice, fairness and the rule of law, indeed, for much of what the services exist to protect risks being tarnished.’‘

In what was described as the ‘best way forward’, the British government has insisted the money no way amounts to an admission of culpability and is a settlement and not compensation.