Binyam Mohamed

Who is Binyam Mohamed?

Binyam Ahmed Mohamed is an Ethiopian national and United Kingdom resident, who was detained as a suspected enemy combatant by the US Government in Guantanamo Bay prison between 2004 and 2009 without charges. He was arrested in Pakistan and transported first to Morocco under the US' illegal extraordinary rendition program, where he claimed to have been interrogated under torture.

After some time, Mohamed was transferred to military custody at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Mohamed's military Personal Representative at the time of his Combatant Status Review Tribunal reported that he had admitted that he had trained in the Al-Qaeda terrorist training camp Al Farouq. Mohamed has since said that the evidence against him was obtained using torture and denied any confession.

The US dropped its charges against him, and eventually released him. He arrived in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2009. Together with other detainees, he filed suit against the government for collusion by MI5 and MI6 in his torture by the United States. In February 2010, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that he had been subjected to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities". in which the British Intelligence services had been complicit. The government awarded him £1 million compensation in settlement in 2011.