Foreign Office Admits Guantã¡namo Briton Has Alleged Ill Treatment

The Foreign Office has for the first time admitted that a British prisoner held in Guantánamo Bay has alleged suffering ill treatment from the Americans, the Guardian has learned.

Until now the Foreign Office had said no detainee had made such allegations while in captivity to it, a claim challenged by several British detainees who said after being released that British officials had ignored their complaints.

Martin Mubanga, 31, a former motorcycle courier, made the allegations of ill treatment during a visit to the US base by a Foreign Office official last month, according to an account of the visit written by the government.

Letters written by Mr Mubanga to his family have contained coded references in patois and cockney to ill treatment, his relatives say.

Mr Mubanga, from north-west London, was detained in Zambia, where he went after studying Islam in Afghanistan.

Five Britons released from Guantánamo in March have all alleged varying degrees of ill treatment, including beatings, forced injections, short shackling, sleep deprivation, and being forced to pose naked.

The Foreign Office report on its July 16 visit to Mr Mubanga records key points of a 60 minute discussion with the prisoner, who has been held for over two years without charge, or access to a lawyer.

It says: "Martin mentioned two specific incidents where he said he had been mistreated. We have raised these with the US authorities and have asked them to investigate."

Last night the Foreign Office declined to give more detail on Mr Mubanga's allegations. It has already asked the US to in vestigate allegations of abuse made by detainees released from Guantánamo.

The Foreign Office report also records that Mr Mubanga said he had lost 20kg in weight, with the Briton adding: "It wasn't all fat".

The report gives insight into life for prisoners in Guantánamo. Mr Mubanga, described by the official as having a beard and dreadlocks tied in a bun, was angry about still being imprisoned. He still only gets 90 minutes of exercise a week, playing football in a recreation yard.

The report notes: "Martin said that his new interrogator had started getting him books ... but they were of the interrogator's choice.

He said the first had been Huckleberry Finn and it was about a 'nigger'. He said the interrogator was trying to be funny."

Mr Mubanga said mail from home was taking too long to reach him and he had stopped writing because it was taking so long.

The British official told Mr Mubanga that he had rights in the US courts, following a supreme court ruling that said Guantánamo Bay was covered by US law.

Mr Mubanga attacked review tribunals devised by the Pentagon, where he would get no legal representation, as "a means to keep him in Guantánamo".

The Foreign Office reports that the meeting ended with its officials and the Briton talking "in detail" about Arsenal and the Euro 2004 football championship, which had just finished when the visit took place.

Mr Mubanga is due next week to get his first visit from a lawyer since his detention by the US.

A total of four Britons and four British residents are still held in Guantánamo.