US soldier at Guantanamo Bay

UK Faces Unprecedented Trial Over Alleged Role in CIA Torture of Al-Hawsawi 

Share

Between 10 and 13 June 2025 a UK Tribunal will hold an unprecedented trial to consider the extent of British involvement in the torture of Mustafa al-Hawsawi by US forces, marking the first time a UK judicial body has scrutinised alleged UK complicity in CIA abuses.  

The trial comes over 22 years after Mr al-Hawsawi was seized by Pakistani agents and transferred into the custody of CIA in March 2003, leading to a long ordeal of secret detention, torture and ill-treatment. 

Chris Esdaile, Senior Legal Advisor at REDRESS, said:

“Until now, efforts to secure full disclosure of UK intelligence agencies’ complicity in the torture of detainees by the US post 9/11, including through a judicial inquiry, have been consistently thwarted. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ever conducted a full investigation into those held in CIA’s black sites, and UK judges have rarely had the opportunity to examine what legally constitutes complicity in torture. So this trial offers an unprecedented level of judicial scrutiny into a shameful chapter of UK history, one that has long, and repeatedly, been kept hidden.”

Mr al-Hawsawi was detained and tortured in secret CIA-run prisons (known as ‘black sites’) as part of a covert CIA programme. A US Senate report confirmed in 2014 that he was subjected to several forms of ill-treatment while in US detention, including water dousing (similar to water boarding), walling, attention grasps, sleep deprivation, cramped confinement, psychological pressures and other forms of physical violence.   

Such abuses – which amount to torture in international law – and the conditions of his confinement have caused him permanent harm, for which he has not received appropriate medical care, or any rehabilitation. 

In 2024, in a case brought on his behalf by REDRESS, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Mr al-Hawsawi’s favour, finding that Lithuania was complicit in his unlawful rendition, secret detention and torture by US authorities in relation to his secret detention in a CIA ‘black site’ located in Lithuania. 

Complaint to Investigatory Powers Tribunal 

In 2021, REDRESS filed a complaint before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) – the judicial body that handles complaints about the actions of UK intelligence agencies. The complaint was made against several UK agencies – including MI5, MI6, GCHQ, and the Ministry of Defence’s intelligence section – over their possible involvement in Mr al-Hawsawi’s torture and ill-treatment. 

The complaint emphasised that that UK intelligence agencies or their agents likely provided questions or information to US officials to use during Mr al-Hawsawi’s interrogations, or received information from such interrogations. It argued that they knew or ought to have known that he was being tortured or faced a serious risk of torture, because: 

  • He was designated as a “High Value Detainee” by the CIA. There is significant evidence demonstrating that “High Value Detainees” were systematically tortured and ill-treated by the CIA.  
  • Mr al-Hawsawi was likely to be of considerable interest to the UK intelligence agencies, given his designation as a “High Value Detainee” and the fact that the US authorities suspected him to be a senior al-Qaeda member, who had been involved in the 9/11 attacks. Indeed, a recently published CIA Cable confirms that the CIA were interrogating Mustafa in 2003 about his possible knowledge of terrorist plots in the UK.  
  • It is a matter of public record that the UK intelligence agencies were aware that “High Value Detainees” were being subjected to torture and ill-treatment during interrogations by the CIA, and nevertheless supplied questions to the CIA to be used in such interrogations.  

The complaint to the IPT therefore requested the following: 

  • Documents and information in the custody or control of UK intelligence agencies concerning Mr al-Hawsawi’s detention and ill-treatment. 
  • A declaration that UK intelligence agencies or their agents were complicit in Mr al-Hawsawi’s torture and ill-treatment, and that their actions were unlawful, including by providing questions for his interrogation to US officials or receiving information obtained from him during interrogation – whilst knowing or having known he was being tortured or ill-treated. 
  • Compensation for the conduct of the UK intelligence agencies, including their role in Mr al-Hawsawi’s torture and ill-treatment, and costs. 

The IPT’s investigation and trial 

In May 2023, the IPT announced that it would investigate Mr al-Hawsawi’s complaints. The IPT noted: 

“…it is alleged that the intelligence services of the UK were complicit in torture by agents of the US. If the allegations are true, it is imperative that that should be established.  If they are not true, it is just as important that that should be made clear, so as to maintain public confidence. We conclude that it would be in the public interest for these issues to be considered by this Tribunal, which is a fair, independent and impartial court.”  

Since then, it is understood that the IPT has conducted its own investigation into these allegations. However, the findings of that investigation have not been shared with Mr al-Hawsawi or his legal representatives. At the forthcoming trial, the IPT is expected to determine the following: 

  • What exactly it means for the UK to be “complicit” in torture and ill-treatment carried out by other States, and 
  • Whether (and, if so, how and to what extent) the UK authorities were complicit in Mr al-Hawsawi’s torture and ill-treatment on the basis of the evidence obtained through its own investigation. 

Although the IPT’s investigations remain secretive and lack transparency, to the best of our knowledge, there have not been any previous full investigations undertaken by the IPT in relation to those held in the CIA’s black sites programme. 

The trial will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand (Court 72) between 10-13 June starting at 10:30 am.

REDRESS is grateful for the assistance of barristers Edward Craven KC and Florence Iveson, both at Matrix Chambers, in connection with the presentation of this case before the IPT. 

For more information, contact Eva Sanchis, Head of Communications, on [email protected] or +44 (0)7857 110076. 

Photo by Chief John F. Williams under a CC-BY ND 2.0 license.