Court rules British government must reveal secret documents on Guantanamo detainee’s treatment

Court: UK gov’t must release Gitmo detainee intel

LONDON — Britain’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld a ruling that the government must disclose secret intelligence about the treatment of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who says he was tortured in U.S. custody.

Judges rejected the government’s claim that revealing the information would damage U.S.-British intelligence cooperation.

The information disclosed consisted of a summary of U.S. intelligence information given to British spy agencies about Binyam Mohamed’s treatment during interrogations by the Americans in May 2002.

The paragraphs read in court disclosed that he was subjected to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” including sleep deprivation, shackling and threats resulting in mental stress and suffering.

Ethiopia-born Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and says he was tortured there and in Morocco before being flown to Guantanamo Bay. He was released without charge last year.

The decision upholds an earlier High Court ordering officials to make public the secret seven-paragraph summary of U.S. intelligence files. The Foreign Office appealed that ruling.