Abu Zubaydah is languishing in Guantanamo with no prospect of release. Source: AP

But Abu Zubaydah faces the worst punishment of all — a lifetime of silence and isolation.

The terror suspect is languishing in Guantánamo Bay, and not even a preliminary ruling has been made on his case in nearly seven years. It looks like someone never wants him to get out.

Zubaydah was shot and captured in Pakistan in 2002, suffering wounds so severe that a top surgeon was flown in from Baltimore to keep him alive for questioning.

He was handcuffed, hooded, drugged and flown to a new CIA black site in Thailand for questioning. There, he became one of the first al-Qaeda suspects to enter the agency’s post-9/11 “enhanced interrogation” program.

The CIA tortured him at a Thai black site. Source: Supplied

He was captured in 2002. Source: News Limited

Initially questioned by FBI agents, he co-operated, naming Khalid Sheik Mohammed as the mastermind behind the World Trade Center attacks and pointing the authorities to would-be jihadist Jose Padilla in Chicago. As the CIA’s brutal plan emerged, the FBI objected, and pulled its agents out.

During questioning, Zubaydah cried, pleaded hysterically, vomited and experienced spasms, but he never revealed anything more. The CIA noted that some interrogators were reduced to tears by his horrific ordeal.

In the end, the agency concluded that he had been truthful and “did not possess any new terrorist threat information” or appear to have even been a member of al-Qaeda, the Senate torture report revealed.

It was vital that Zubaydah was kept under wraps. Interrogators agreed with Washington that if he died during questioning, his body would be cremated, and if he survived, he would “remain in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life.”

Zubaydah was moved to Guantanamo in 2006. Source: AP

When the Thai black site hit the news, Zubaydah was moved to another secret prison in Poland. Last year, the European court of human rights ruled that Poland had assisted the US in subjecting Zubaydah to “inhuman and degrading treatment”, and the country paid him 100,000 euros, which he has pledged to torture victims.

In 2006, he was moved to Guantanamo, Cuba, and has languished there ever since, while more than 100 of his fellow inmates have been released. Not even his lawyers understand why, according to Politico.

Zubaydah filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2008 challenging his imprisonment. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that cases should be handled “promptly”, the district court judge has made no move and the case remains shrouded in secrecy.

Judge Richard Roberts, who is not known for being slow, has failed to rule on 16 motions, including several alleging government misconduct. Zubaydah has been refused a copy of his own diary and his habeas corpus petition (seeking relief from “unlawful imprisonment”) has been sealed.

More than hundred prisoners have been released from the controversial jail in Cuba, but his case has been stationary for almost seven years. Source: Reuters

In 2010, Zubaydah’s lawyers asked for access to any “ex parte filings” (classified evidence the government shows the court without the other side’s lawyers.) Two years later, his lawyers requested sanctions against the government for “the improper seizure” of documents. Judge Roberts has not ruled on either motion.

In January, Zubaydah’s defence filed a motion asking the judge to declare himself unqualified to perform his legal duties, on the grounds of failure to act. The government has filed its response, which is sealed, and the judge has not yet ruled.

One of the lawyers, Joseph Margulies, admitted that if Judge Roberts continues to “ignore” the case, there’s not much that can be done. It will be years until it goes to trial, if ever.

Meanwhile, even 9/11 mastermind Sheikh Mohammed’s tribunal is moving forward.