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| Three Guantanamo Detainees Commit Suicide | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 10 2006, 10:56 PM (105 Views) | |
| abuturab82 | Jun 10 2006, 10:56 PM Post #1 |
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Three Guantanamo detainees commit suicide http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international...y=1149983551000 By Michael Christie MIAMI (Reuters) - Three foreign prisoners were found dead on Saturday after hanging themselves with clothing and bedsheets in the first deaths at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since the prison camp for foreign terror suspects opened in January 2002, U.S. officials said. The military said two Saudis and one Yemeni were found unresponsive and not breathing in their cells by guards shortly after midnight and that attempts to resuscitate them failed. They were pronounced dead by a physician at Guantanamo, a controversial prison camp that holds around 460 foreigners captured mainly in the U.S. war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Base commander Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris said the suicides were acts of "asymmetrical warfare" and linked to a "mystical" belief at the camp that it would take the deaths of three detainees for the rest to go free. The deaths threw a fresh spotlight on the camp, which has drawn widespread criticism of the Bush administration from foreign countries, including allies, and human rights groups. President George W. Bush expressed "serious concern" when he was informed and U.S. officials immediately made a round of calls to allies, the United Nations and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. Facing indefinite detention with none of the rights afforded formal prisoners of war, or criminal suspects in the U.S. justice system, dozens of the detainees have undertaken hunger strikes and 23 inmates have also attempted suicide a total of 41 times. Guantanamo has been one of the issues that have undermined support abroad for Washington's war on terrorism, declared after the September 11 attacks. The deaths also come as Bush is facing growing domestic doubts about the war in Iraq, and pressure to quickly find out what happened in the suspected massacre of more than 20 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in Iraq in November. "These tragic and sad and unnecessary deaths are the latest result of the policies of this administration, which seek to deny justice, fairness and due process to these men," said Willliam Goodman of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, a New York group that defends some Guantanamo prisoners. But Adm. Harris told a news conference the suicides were an act of warfare. "They are smart. They are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us," Harris said. U.S. officials said there was no indication that the Guantanamo suicides were a reaction to the killing in a U.S. air raid of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq. BUSH CONCERNED The U.S. military said the bodies were being treated "with the utmost respect." An investigation has begun, it said. The three detainees had taken part previously in extended hunger strikes and been force-fed. They all left suicide notes. Bush, who was at Camp David, was told of the deaths by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at 7:45 a.m. (12:45 p.m. British time)) "Guantanamo has obviously been an issue of some concern," Snow said, explaining the outreach to allies. "I think it's important to make sure that everybody not only knows what happened, but also what the procedures are and have been at Guantanamo, to answer any questions people may have." Bush has said he would like to empty the detention centre. Ken Roth, head of Human Rights Watch in New York, said the suicides at Guantanamo likely were driven by despair. "Sadly, suicides like these are entirely predictable when people are held outside the law with no end in sight," he said. In May, the United Nations top anti-torture body told the United States that any secret jails it ran for foreign terrorism suspects, along with the Guantanamo Bay facility, were illegal and should be closed. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on the legitimacy of special military tribunals set up at the camp to try some of the prisoners for war crimes. Ten detainees face hearings before the tribunals. The Pentagon says the detainees come from 40 countries and the West Bank, with the largest number from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Paul Eckert in Washington, and Irwin Arieff in New York) Reuters (IDS) |
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| bluey | Jun 11 2006, 11:29 PM Post #2 |
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Qadhi
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Assalam Alaykum, This is so sad. Innil lilahi wa inna ilahi rajioun... What's worse was the stupid excuse they came up with about it being an 'act of warfare'. :rolleyes: "They are smart. They are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us," Harris said. May Allah s.w.t protect our brothers and sisters from harm. Ameen. |
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| abuturab82 | Jun 12 2006, 10:42 AM Post #3 |
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wa alaikum assalam it reminds me of the Quraysh who would come up with such weak excuses to justify their behavior. i think its ironic how they act so powerful and intelligent, and yet can be more barbaric then even animals. masalama |
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9:18 AM Jul 11