"CIA Torture" Guantanamo Detainee Court Testimony, US Government to Allow Limited Access

by Kim Dongpyo

Published 18 Oct.2021 16:45(KST)

Major foreign media reported on the 17th (local time) that the U.S. government has agreed to allow limited court testimony from a Cuban Guantanamo detainee who claims to have been tortured by the CIA.

According to reports, the U.S. Supreme Court asked why the government was blocking the testimony of Abu Zubaydah during a trial earlier this month. In response, Acting Attorney General Brian Fletcher stated in a letter sent to the court on the 15th that they would provide Zubaydah's statement.

Zubaydah, suspected to be a high-ranking member of Al-Qaeda, is currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. He was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and is known to have been imprisoned and tortured at a secret CIA facility in Poland.

Originally from Palestine, Zubaydah is known as a longtime terrorist and associate of Osama bin Laden. He was held and tortured at a secret CIA prison in Poland, then transferred to Guantanamo, where he has been detained without charges for 15 years.

According to U.S. administration documents, he was subjected to waterboarding 83 times a month by the CIA and lost one eye.

Earlier, Zubaydah sued the Polish government at the European Court of Human Rights in 2013, alleging that Poland was complicit in his torture by allowing it to happen.

The European Court of Human Rights ordered the Polish government to pay Zubaydah 100,000 euros in compensation.

At the time, Poland investigated two suspects employed by the CIA who tortured Zubaydah and others, and requested Zubaydah's testimony from the U.S. side. However, the U.S. government refused, citing the "state secrets privilege" to avoid jeopardizing national security.

However, Zubaydah expressed his willingness to testify regarding Poland's criminal investigation and requested this from the U.S. court, leading to the trial.