Abu Zubaydah: Guantánamo’s Living Ghost

Summary

Palestinian Abu Zubaydah was captured in Pakistan in 2002. At 31 years old, he became one of the first detainees subjected to the CIA’s global “black site” enhanced torture programme. Although initially portrayed as a senior al-Qaeda figure, US intelligence later confirmed he was not an al-Qaeda member and had no role in planning 9/11. Yet, for over four years in secret prisons across multiple countries, he was waterboarded more than 80 times in a month, confined in coffin-sized boxes, deprived of sleep, and endured extreme isolation and stress positions. 

In 2006 he was transferred to Guantánamo Bay, where he remains indefinitely detained without charge or trial, designated a “forever prisoner”. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that European states hosting CIA torture facilities were complicit, while UN experts have demanded his immediate release. 

Background

Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, known as Abu Zubaydah, is a Palestinian born in 1971 in Saudi Arabia. US authorities initially portrayed him as a senior al-Qaeda leader after 9/11. However, later US intelligence assessments concluded he was not an al-Qaeda member. Abu Zubaydah was never charged, nor tried in a court of law, yet has been detained for 23 years. 

Personal facts

Abu Zubaydah is described as intelligent, brave and has a great sense of humour by those who are close to him. He is someone that is committed to his faith and the assistance of the oppressed. Growing up as a stateless Palestinian, he had no real experience of a homeland. Seeing a free Palestine was always his dream.

He lost his memory due to a shrapnel injury to the head and had to relearn everything from scratch. 

Despite his horrific experiences, isolation and lack of justice, he always looks for ways to help others.

Abu Zubaydah wants people to know his story through his own words, but this has not yet been possible.

Capture, rendition and torture 

He was captured in March 2002 in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Abu Zubaydah was thereafter sent through the CIA’s secret “black site” network across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

During interrogation he endured brutal torture – including being waterboarded, locked in coffin-sized boxes, deprived of sleep, food and clothing, and tortured with stress positions – which he documented in vivid drawings. He was waterboarded over 83 times in a single month.

A human testing ground for torment 

In 2002 he was held at a CIA prison in Thailand. He was transferred to other black sites (including Poland and Afghanistan), enduring prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation and other abusive “enhanced interrogation” methods. International reports agree these methods amounted to torture. In 2014, the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence explicitly documented the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” of Abu Zubaydah. While the U.S. claimed to learn vital intelligence from him, much of that was later discredited: his own private diary showed he knew nothing of future plots, and US officials eventually admitted he had no involvement in planning 9/11.

What makes Abu Zubaydah's case uniquely horrifying is that he was simultaneously interrogated by the FBI and the CIA, who competed for control, subjecting him to overlapping forms of abuse. The result was devastating. Zubaydah wasn't just a prisoner; but a human testing ground for methods of physical and psychological torment. This dual-agency assault marked disturbing collaboration and complicity in cruelty, turning his body and mind into a battleground for unrestrained experimentation where accountability was nowhere to be found.

Abu Zubaydah describes it as follows: “I was told during this period that I was one of the first to receive these interrogation techniques, so no rules applied. It felt like they were experimenting and trying out techniques to be used later on other people.”

Detention at Guantánamo Bay

In September 2006, after almost four years in CIA detention, Abu Zubaydah was transferred to Guantánamo Bay. He has been held there ever since without charge or trial. He is designated a “forever prisoner”, a detainee deemed too dangerous to release but never prosecuted. Periodic Review Boards and administrations (Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden) have repeatedly examined his case, but he remains in indefinite detention. 

His communications with lawyers have been restricted. His treatment was the subject of litigation in US courts: in 2010 he sued to compel CIA contractors to testify about the Polish black site where he was tortured. In March 2022 the US Supreme Court – citing the state-secrets privilege - blocked his attempt to obtain that evidence, ruling that even confirming the existence of the secret CIA facility would jeopardise national security.

International Human Rights Findings

UN human rights bodies have called for Abu Zubayda’s release. In April 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a formal Opinion declaring that his detention “has no lawful basis, and the US should immediately release him and provide reparation”.  The UNWGAD also expressed grave concern about detention at Guantánamo Bay and noted that systematic deprivation of liberty may constitute crimes against humanity.

In January 2025, a panel of UN Special Rapporteurs on arbitrary detention and torture wrote to President Biden that “his immediate release and relocation to a third safe country are long overdue”, citing his grave health conditions caused by torture and medical neglect. International NGOs and dozens of legal scholars have similarly urged the US to free Abu Zubaydah, noting that holding a prisoner so long without charge violates the rule of law and basic human rights.

Compensation and limited redress

Several European states have paid compensation after courts confirmed their complicity in Abu Zubaydah’s torture, even while the United States continues to hold him without charge. In 2014 the European Court of Human Rights ruled Poland responsible for hosting a CIA black site and ordered €100 000 in damages plus costs. In 2018 the same court ordered Romania and Lithuania to each pay €100,000 for their role in his secret detention and abuse. These rulings established state responsibility for complicity in torture and enforced financial redress, though none resulted in accountability for perpetrators. 

In the United Kingdom, following years of litigation over British intelligence involvement, the government reached a confidential out of court settlement with Abu Zubaydah in 2026, described publicly as a substantial sum, without admitting liability. 

While these payments acknowledge harm, they remain partial and symbolic. Abu Zubaydah remains imprisoned, without rehabilitation, apology or justice, underscoring the gap between compensation and meaningful accountability.

Current Physical and Psychological Condition

Abu Zubaydah’s physical health is reported to be extremely poor as a direct result of the CIA’s torture regime. UN experts in 2025 noted he “suffers serious health conditions, including from injuries sustained during torture” that are aggravated by years of inadequate care in Guantánamo. 

He lost sight in his left eye in CIA custody - this permanent damage is a stark reminder of the brutality inflicted on him. Medical records document near-daily seizures, a direct consequence of neurological damage from repeated head trauma during interrogations. These episodes leave him disoriented and physically drained, compounding his existing chronic pain. 

Psychologically, he remains deeply traumatised: he has drawn graphic sketches of his abuse and testified that he often lost all sense of self under interrogation. His lawyers and family express grave concern that his long confinement and untreated injuries are irreversible without prompt action.

Efforts to Secure Release

Human rights organisations and legal advocates worldwide have long campaigned for Abu Zubaydah’s release. In recent years these efforts have intensified. 

In late 2024, 100 international lawyers and human rights experts wrote to US President Biden urging that Abu Zubaydah be pardoned and relocated, calling his detention a “blight on the United States”.

In January 2025, twelve UN special rapporteurs formally called on Biden to free him immediately. 

In the UK, his counsel Helen Duffy has urged the British government (implicated for allowing a CIA base on Diego Garcia) to press for his release.

Campaigns such as CAGE’s Guantánamo Watch have publicised his plight, linking it to the broader injustice of Guantánamo. To date no government has arranged his release or transfer, despite the fact that other long-held detainees have been relocated. 

Each day that Abu Zubaydah remains detained despite having been cleared of any credible offense is seen by advocates as a grave continuing injustice.

Hopes and dreams 

Abu Zubaydah is cited as saying: “They took everything from me, my freedom, my body, even my name. For years, they drowned me in darkness, locked me in coffins, and broke me until I no longer knew who I was. I am a son of Palestine - a land stolen; a people broken. But no exile, no prison, no torture could strip that from me. They water boarded me till I forgot the sea, beat me until I lost an eye, all because they needed someone to punish after 9/11. My only 'crime' was being a Palestinian with no country to protect me. Now I rot in Guantánamo, a 'forever prisoner' - not for what I did, but for what they did to me”.

In a Periodic Review Board personal representative statement, Abu Zubaydah expressed his desire to become a writer once he is released. 

Call to Action 

CAGE International views Abu Zubaydah’s case as emblematic of the War on Terror’s abuses. CAGE demands his immediate release, accountability for his torture, and full reparations for the suffering he has endured. The US government must end its impunity: the CIA officers and allied officials responsible for designing and implementing Abu Zubaydah’s torture programme should face justice, and Abu Zubaydah should receive compensation and rehabilitation for his ordeal.