[Mb-civic] Guantanamo Desperation Seen in Suicide Attempts - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Guantanamo Desperation Seen in Suicide Attempts
One Incident Was During Lawyer's Visit

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 1, 2005; Page A01

Jumah Dossari had to visit the restroom, so the detainee made a quick 
joke with his American lawyer before military police guards escorted him 
to a nearby cell with a toilet. The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo 
Bay, Cuba, had taken quite a toll on Dossari over the past four years, 
but his attorney, who was there to discuss Dossari's federal court case, 
noted his good spirits and thought nothing of his bathroom break.

Minutes later, when Dossari did not return, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan 
knocked on the cell door, calling out his client's name. When he did not 
hear a response, Colangelo-Bryan stepped inside and saw a three-foot 
pool of blood on the floor. Numb, the lawyer looked up to see Dossari 
hanging unconscious from a noose tied to the ceiling, his eyes rolled 
back, his tongue and lips bulging, blood pouring from a gash in his 
right arm.

Dossari's suicide attempt two weeks ago is believed to be the first such 
event witnessed by an outsider at the prison, and one of several signs 
that lawyers and human rights advocates contend point to growing 
desperation among the more than 500 detainees there. Lawyers believe 
Dossari, who has been in solitary confinement for nearly two years, 
timed his suicide attempt so that someone other than his guards would 
witness it, a cry for help meant to reach beyond the base's walls.

Two dozen Guantanamo Bay detainees are currently being force-fed in 
response to a lengthy hunger strike, and the detainees' lawyers estimate 
there are dozens more who have not eaten since August. Military 
officials say there are 27 hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay, all of 
whom are clinically stable, closely monitored by medical personnel and 
receiving proper nutrition.

The hunger strikers are protesting their lengthy confinements in the 
island prison, where some have been kept for nearly four years and most 
have never been charged with a crime. The most recent hunger strike came 
after detention officials allegedly failed to honor promises made during 
a previous hunger strike.

Military authorities do not publicly discuss individual detainees and 
declined to comment on Dossari. Lt. Col. Jeremy Martin, spokesman for 
Joint Task Force Guantanamo, said yesterday that there have been a total 
of 36 suicide attempts by 22 different detainees, including three in the 
past 20 months. Martin said all detainees are treated humanely and "any 
threat of injury or suicide" is taken seriously.

He added that rapid intervention in suicide attempts has prevented 
deaths. No detainee has died at the military prison, he said.

The protests come amid rising international concern about the treatment 
of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Human rights organizations and the 
United Nations have complained about the lack of access to the detainees 
and voiced concern about allegations of physical and psychological 
abuse, including prolonged solitary confinement.

U.S. officials are trying to return many of the detainees to their home 
countries, but the process has been fraught with delays and diplomatic 
wrangling.

Three U.N. experts said yesterday that they would not accept a U.S. 
government invitation to tour Guantanamo unless they are granted private 
access to detainees, a concession the U.S. has not been willing to make, 
citing the ongoing war on terror and security concerns. Last week, the 
United States invited the U.N. representatives on torture and arbitrary 
detention to the facility, and the experts said yesterday that they hope 
to visit in early December. But they described their demand for access 
to the detainees as "non-negotiable."

"They said they have nothing to hide," Manfred Nowak, U.N. special 
rapporteur on torture, said yesterday at a news conference in New York. 
"If they have nothing to hide, why should we not be able to talk to 
detainees in private?"

Colangelo-Bryan said he fears that many detainees would rather die than 
be held indefinitely. He said he was shocked but not surprised by 
Dossari's Oct. 15 suicide attempt, given his "horrible ordeal."

(continued)...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/31/AR2005103101987.html?nav=hcmodule
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