Moazzam Begg

Moazzam Begg
Moazzam Begg
Born (1968-07-05) 5 July 1968 (age 56)[1][2]
Sparkhill, Birmingham, Warwickshire, UK
ArrestedFebruary 2002
Islamabad, Pakistan
Pakistani intelligence (Inter-Services Intelligence)
Released26 January 2005
Paddington Green Police Station, London, England, UK
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom, Pakistan
Detained at Kandahar; Bagram; Guantanamo Bay detention camp
ISN558
Charge(s)None
StatusReleased
OccupationOutreach director of CAGE
SpouseZaynab Begg
ParentsAzmat Begg (father)
Children4

Moazzam Begg (Urdu: مُعَظّم بیگ; born 5 July 1968 in Sparkhill, Birmingham) is a British Pakistani who was held in extrajudicial detention by the US government in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba, for nearly three years. Seized by Pakistani intelligence at his home in Pakistan in February 2002, he was transferred to the custody of US Army officers, who held him in the detention centre at Bagram, Afghanistan, before transferring him to Guantanamo Bay, where he was held until January 2005.[3][4]

The US authorities held Begg as an enemy combatant, claiming Begg was an al-Qaeda member, who recruited for, and provided money for, al-Qaeda training camps, and himself trained there to fight US or allied troops.[5] Begg acknowledged having spent time at two non-al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the early 1990s and given some financial support to fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya, but denies that he was ever involved in terrorism.[4][6][7][8]

Begg says that he was abused by guards at Bagram, and saw two detainees beaten to death. Military coroners subsequently ruled that the two deaths were homicides, but US military spokesmen denied Begg's story at the time. Later, a 2005 military investigation into reports of abuse at Bagram concluded that both deaths were caused by abuse by American guards.[9]

Following a "long public outcry" in the UK over the detention of British nationals,[4][10] in 2004, the UK government intervened on behalf of the British citizens being detained at Guantanamo Bay. President George W. Bush had Begg released without charge on 25 January 2005, despite Pentagon, CIA, and FBI objections.[11] Begg and other British citizens who had been detained at Guantanamo later sued the British government for complicity in their alleged abuse and torture while in US custody. In November 2010, the British Government announced an out-of-court financial settlement with 16 detainees, including Begg.[12]

After his release, Begg became a media commentator on issues pertaining to the US, UK and international anti-terror measures. He toured as a speaker about Guantanamo and other detention facilities. Begg co-authored a book, and has written newspaper and magazine articles.[11] He was interviewed in Taxi to the Dark Side (2007), a documentary about the death in custody of an Afghan detainee and the mistreatment of prisoners held by Americans in Afghanistan and elsewhere.[13]

In 2014, British police arrested Begg, alleging terrorist activities during the Syrian civil war. Charges were later withdrawn and he was released when the prosecution became aware that MI5 had known of, and consented to, his travel to Syria.[14][15][16][17][18]

  1. ^ "U.S. Department of Defense" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2006.
  2. ^ https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/86394-us9uk-000558dp/1a31aa8b97ea6d7a/full.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ David Ignatius, "A Prison We Need to Escape", The Washington Post, 14 June 2006; accessed 22 June 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Bran was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Dodds, Palsley (7 March 2006). "In New Book, Former Prisoner Describes Beatings". Times Daily. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  6. ^ Menon, Lakshman (19 February 2010). "A victim of wanderlust?". Business Standard. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference chan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference response was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths". The New York Times. 20 May 2005.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Atlantic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference tim was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Burns, John F.; Cowell, Alan (16 November 2010). "Britain to Compensate Guantánamo Detainees". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "Taxi to the Dark Side: Murder of young Afghan driver exposes US torture policies". wsws. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gdn21014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc.co.uk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference WP19714 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gdn311215 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cobain, Ian (1 October 2014). "Moazzam Begg freed after terrorism case against him collapses". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2016.