Britain has reached an out-of-court settlement with a group of former detainees of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, to prevent what could have become a series of costly and potentially embarrassing legal battles. British media reported that the government was set to pay out millions of pounds in compensation to detainees, some of whom were accusing it of complicity in their torture while in detention in various countries.
"It's not compensation, it's a settlement," Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman told reporters during a regular news briefing, adding that one of the conditions of the settlement was confidentiality about the terms. Several former detainees of Guantanamo Bay, Britons or British residents, have complained of mistreatment during their detention. Two criminal cases and 12 civil cases have been brought against the government before British courts.
The legal cases were potentially embarrassing for the British authorities because of evidence that risked becoming public in court. The previous government lost a legal battle earlier this year to prevent the disclosure of US intelligence material relating to allegations of abuse by CIA agents.
The material came out as part of a legal battle by former detainee Binyam Mohamed who said he wanted to show that he was tortured and Britain knew about it. Cameron, who came into office in May, said in July that Britain would investigate whether its security services knew about the torture of terrorism suspects on foreign soil. He said the government would mediate with, and possibly settle with some former detainees.
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