Binyam Mohamed

Binyam Ahmed Mohamed
Born (1978-07-24) 24 July 1978 (age 46)[1]
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Detained at The dark prison, Temara interrogation centre, Ain Aouda secret prison, Guantanamo
Other name(s) Benjamin Mohammed,
Benyam (Ahmed) Mohammed,
Benyam Mohammed al-Habashi
ISN1458
Charge(s)All charges dropped
StatusReleased

Binyam Ahmed Mohamed (Amharic: ብንያም መሐመድ, Arabic: بنيام محمد, born 24 July 1978), also referred to as Benjamin Mohammed, Benyam Mohammed or Benyam Mohammed al-Habashi, 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.[2] He was arrested in Pakistan and transported first to Morocco under the US's 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 said that he had gone to train in the Al Farouq training camp only in order to train to fight in Chechnya.[3] Mohamed also said that the evidence against him was obtained using torture and later denied any confession.[3][4]

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 took legal action against the UK 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"[5] in which the British Intelligence services had been complicit. The UK government agreed to pay an undisclosed sum in compensation in November 2010.

  1. ^ "JTF GTMO Detainee Profile" (PDF). nyt.com. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  2. ^ OARDEC (15 May 2006). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference PR notes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Profile: Binyam Mohamed. BBC News. 23 February 2008.
  5. ^ "MI5 knew Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed was being tortured". The Telegraph. London. 10 February 2010.