WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Britain's settlement of a torture lawsuit by former Guantanamo inmates should put pressure on the Obama administration, critics say.
The British government said Tuesday it will pay 16 former Guantanamo Bay detainees millions to settle claims that its government was complicit in their abuse at American hands.
Details have not been disclosed, and Britain made no public admission that it had known about the alleged abuse.
The American Civil Liberties Union called on the administration to stop invoking the state secrets privilege to keep details of abuse from being aired in U.S. courts, The Miami Herald reported.
Human-rights activists also oppose U.S. President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute Bush administration officials who approved waterboarding and other practices banned as torture under international law.
Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director, said Tuesday it was "deeply troubling'' that "here in the United States the Obama administration continues to shield the architects of the torture program from civil liability while Bush-era officials, including former President Bush and former Vice President Cheney, boast of their crimes on national television.''
