Clarke says payouts to 'torture' detainees made 'to move on'

THE Government has defended a deal that will see secret payouts made to 16 former detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, claiming they are necessary to enable the security services to concentrate on protecting Britain and will pave the way for an inquiry into allegations of torture.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke confirmed the deal yesterday, saying a settlement would avoid the need for protracted legal battles that could have run up a bill of 50m over the next five years,

Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan asked for details of the payments, saying there was a "public interest in knowing the total sums involved in this settlement" after reports one former detainee was in line to receive more than 1m.

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Mr Clarke told MPs: "We've paid up the money so we can move on."

The deal, which is subject to a confidentiality agreement, was reached after Prime Minister David Cameron gave the go-ahead for the talks, saying the intelligence and security services were being "paralysed with paperwork" from individuals pursuing civil cases.

"No admissions of culpability have been made," Mr Clarke said.

The detainees' allegations included claims that the Government knew they were being illegally transferred to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba but failed to prevent it; that British security and intelligence officials colluded in their torture and abuse while they were held abroad; and that UK

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agents witnessed mistreatment, including the use of hoods and shackles.

Mr Clarke said: "The alternative to any payments made would have been protracted and extremely expensive litigation in an uncertain legal environment in which the Government could not be certain that it would be able to defend departments and the security and intelligence agencies without compromising national security."

The settlement of the claims will pave the way for an independent judge-led inquiry into allegations of British complicity in the torture of detainees held by other countries.

Police inquires were continuing, Mr Clarke said, but it was hoped former Appeal Court judge Sir Peter Gibson would start the inquiry's work by the end of this year and report within 12 months.

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He will have access to "all relevant Government papers, including those held by the intelligence services", and will get full co-operation from official departments and agencies.

But much of the evidence taken by the inquiry panel will be heard behind closed doors and will not be made public in order to protect secret information.

A Government Green Paper examining how sensitive information is treated in courts and inquiries will also be published next summer, Mr Clarke added.

The Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, and the Security Service, MI5, said the settlement will allow both agencies "to concentrate on protecting national security".

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Binyam Mohamed, Bishar Al Rawi, Jamil El Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes, Moazzam Begg and Martin Mubanga are said to be among the 16 former detainees receiving settlements. Not all are British nationals, with some said to be asylum seekers.

Earlier, No 10 insisted the payments were not compensation but admitted some people would find the payments "unpalatable".

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said: "This settlement could bring a broader inquiry and the end of the torture scandal a little bit closer.

"But if the slow, morale-sapping bleed of revelation and litigation is to end, the Gibson process must have all the power and authority of a court.

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"It must distinguish between national security and embarrassment; between clean up and cover up."

Nicola Duckworth, director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme, added the payments could be "an important part of the right to remedy and reparation for victims of grave human rights violations".

Judge urges caution on the courts

Courts must proceed with caution when intervening in the work of the security services but there is no magic wand to resolve the tensions, said one of the country's top judges.

Lord Justice Gross said at the Royal United Services Institute "encounters between the agencies and the courts are likely to continue" and the courts must tread carefully to avoid creating "an unduly risk averse cast of mind to the detriment of all concerned".

Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, said last month that demands by the courts for the disclosure of secret material was hindering the work of the security services.