Prisoners 'killed' at US Base

If he wasn't restricted by that little constitution thingie, a lot of people would be in troubu-u-ul.

Well, if it was in one of the debates, it ought to be pretty easy to track down a quote. No offense, but I have found enough times when statements made here were based on "it's something I'm sure I heard" and those statements have later turned out to be baseless and incorrect. That's why I ask. If you can't offer a citation, that doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I don't tend to take it for granted that it did.

Trespassers Will,
...No offence taken. However it was not something I heard. I observed, and assesed. Anyway I'm glad you won't have any trouble tracking it down.

(BBC) Four detainees in the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay have attempted suicide in the past three weeks, the Pentagon has confirmed.



It brings the total of serious suicide attempts in the camp, which holds more than 600 Taleban and al-Qaeda suspects captured during the war in Afghanistan, to 14 in the past year.

The most serious attempt was on 16 January, when a detainee was found hanging in his cell before a guard rescued him. He remains in a stable but serious condition.

His government was informed due to the severity of his injuries, Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Lieutenant Commander Barbara Burfeind said.

Three others who have tried to kill themselves since then have been treated successfully and returned to their cells, she added.

Trauma fears

Detainees at Guantanamo Bay are designated by the US Government as "unlawful combatants" - not prisoners of war - meaning they are not entitled to rights under the Geneva Convention.


Rumsfeld: Information from detainee interrogation "saving lives"
Several lawsuits aimed at having their status reclassified have been dismissed by US courts.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called on the US Government either to release the men being held or to charge them with a crime.

They say the detainees, who are largely isolated apart from two brief 15-minute exercise breaks twice a day, are at risk from psychological trauma due to uncertainty over their status.

"That prisoners are repeatedly attempting to take their own lives indicates the human cost of the indefinite legal limbo into which they have been thrown," Amnesty International's Vienna Colucci told the US Miami Herald newspaper.

Earlier in the week, the Swedish Government called on the US Government to charge or release one of its citizens, 23-year-old Mehdi-Muhammad Ghezali. The US has yet to respond.

Information gathering

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday that there was "no rush" to try those detained while information obtained from the men was "saving the lives of Americans and our friends and allies".

"These people are being treated properly and the process is going along and information is being gathered, intelligence information, and it's to the benefit of our country," he said.

Commander Burfeind said that efforts to gather intelligence were ongoing, but that several more detainees were likely to be released in the next few weeks.

The US has attempted to improve conditions for the detainees, following the appointment of new camp commander Army Major-General Geoffrey Miller in November.

Under a rewards-based system, co-operative behaviour from detainees may result in their transfer to more sociable, barracks-style compounds.

More prisoners sent to Cuba base

Pentagon officials say about 30 detainees have been transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention centre from Afghanistan.

Earlier, the Pentagon had confirmed that 13 prisoners had been "transferred for release" in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Most were Afghans, but there were a small number of Pakistanis, Pentagon officials said.

The total number of detainees at the US base on the island of Cuba now stands at about 680.

The Pentagon says the latest transfers to the base are mainly Afghan and had been held in Afghanistan until now.

The US has used the base to house what it terms "unlawful combatants" it encounters in its so-called war on terror.

'No longer a threat'

It has not granted them prisoner-of-war status, and none has been charged or stood before a judge - a fact harshly criticised by human rights groups.



The BBC's Nick Childs in Washington says this growing criticism could have spurred on the latest releases - though in public Washington insists it is not responding to such pressure.

It says it has merely deemed that the men no longer pose a threat to US security.

The 13 men sent back to Afghanistan this week, after more than a year in detention and interrogation at the base, are being held in a police station in Kabul.

Authorities said they would conduct short interviews and check they are not wanted for other crimes.

'I'm innocent'

Speaking to news agency Associated Press, the men said they had been released without compensation or an apology.

One showed reporters a blue sports bag containing trousers, sports shoes, a jacket, underwear and a bottle of shampoo.

He said that was all he had been given.

"I'm just angry that the Americans waited until we were in Guantanamo to interrogate us," said Mohammed Tahir.

"Had they questioned us here in Afghanistan, it would have saved us a lot of trouble.

"They could have realised a lot sooner that I was innocent."

'Forced to fight'

Another man described how, two or three times a week, his hands and feet were bound and he was interrogated.

"All the time they asked us, 'Where are you from? Are you Taleban? Were you in Pakistan? Why were you captured with the Taleban?" said

The men who were released all said they were forced to fight for the Taleban.

Although they are bitter about their long detentions, apart from the frequent interrogations none of the men had any other specific complaints about their prison treatment.

They said they were allowed to pray, ate three times a day and showered twice a week, according to AP.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3015619.stm