Four prisoners attempt suicide at Guantanamo camp

[IChing]

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE (Reuters) - Four Guantanamo prisoners tried to commit suicide on Thursday and several others attacked guards who rushed in to halt one of the attempts, a camp spokesman said.

Three took overdoses of prescription medicine they had apparently been hoarding, and the fourth tried to hang himself, said Cmdr. Robert Durand, a detention camp spokesman. None of the suicide attempts succeeded, he said.

"At this point, I have no idea of motive, no idea of any co-ordination and no idea of any intended message," Durand said.

The attempted hanging took place in a medium-security camp where prisoners live in groups of up to 10 men in long bays lined with metal cots. When guards entered the unit, roommates "tried to prevent them from rescuing the detainee by using fans, light fixtures and other items as improvised weapons," Durand said.


Guards halted the attempted hanging, quelled the disturbance and moved the roommates to a maximum-security area, Durand said.

The three who took overdoses were treated with activated charcoal to absorb and neutralize the medications, and two were held for observation in the camp hospital, Durand said.>>>>snip

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-05-19T034408Z_01_N18389561_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-GUANTANAMO-SUICIDE.xml&src=rss

[Mojorabbit]

1. I can't take much more of this

Everyday there are more and more horrible stories. This country is sliding down into a deep pit.

[IChing]

2. Few at Guantanamo are interrogated, commander says

..more from reuters different article.

Only about one-fourth of the prisoners held at the Guantanamo naval base are interrogated regularly because there are not enough translators and interrogators to question them all, the U.S. admiral in charge of the detention operation said on Thursday.

Rear Adm. Harry Harris, who at the end of March took command of the military task force that runs the camp, said the 460 captives at Guantanamo in Cuba were dangerous men who still provide useful information about al Qaeda tactics, financing and safe houses.
But only those he described as senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders were routinely questioned by U.S. interrogators, he said.
"It's about around 25 percent of the population that we are actively interrogating," Harris told visiting journalists.

"If we had unlimited interrogators and translators then we could interrogate more. But we have limited resources so we have to focus that the best way we can, so we go after those detainees that have the largest intelligence value."

The rest are not ignored completely, he said. But asked if some prisoners might have gone years without being questioned, he replied, "I would think there are, but I just don't know."Oldest prisoner is 71>>>>snip

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/NASU51801.htm

[CottonBear]

3. Motive? Intended message? WTF? The prisoners are desperate.

:cry:

[fushuugi]

4. absolutely incredable...

"...I have no idea of motive..."
these men have been in a military prison, for some, 6 years. they have had no contact with legal counsel, their families, or their governments. they have not been brought before a judge and charged with a crime much less convicted. there has been evidence of torture both physical and psychological among some of the inmates.
motive?
over the past few years the federal government has delayed releasing any national suicide statistics. if citizens of our nation are committing suicide in such numbers that the administration doesn't want to relay the Numbers to the public, perhaps it's just a matter of common unconscious.

[emlev]

5. Witness Against Torture group suggests what we can do

http://www.witnesstorture.org/what_you_can_do

There are some really interesting things on this list. Check it out. These are the folks that actually marched to Guantanamo and held a vigil there.

[The Stranger]

13. U.S.-run concentration camps are here already.

Coming soon to a location near you.

[sweetheart]

6. "camp" == supermaximum extrajudicial concentration camp

I wonder if they've finished the ovens yet. Will they take
out the fillings before they burn the corpses, and will they
mound these up in a pile for photographers of future to
study dentistry.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

7. How sad can it get? They can't even escape by suicide.

What a disgrace Gitmo is.

:mad:

[bloom]

8. Guantanamo Prison Guards, Inmates Clash

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Prisoners wielding improvised weapons clashed with guards trying to stop a detainee from committing suicide at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the military said Friday. The fight occurred Thursday in a medium-security section of the camp as guards were responding to the fourth attempted suicide that day at the detention center on the U.S. Navy base, said Cmdr. Robert Durand. Detainees used fans, light fixtures and other improvised weapons to attack the guards as they entered a communal living area to stop a prisoner who was trying to hang himself, Durand said."


http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/guantanamo_detainees

[katinmn]

9. "...the fourth attempted suicide that day "

Close that f****** place down!!!

[Lerkfish]

14. it wouldn't matter: they have other places we don't even know about.

[katinmn]

10. kick!

[IChing]

11. dupe original thread is here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2293859

[Ragin_mad]

12. Nice cover story

I bet the real story is more like a failed attempt at the US trying to suicide 4 people.

[bloom]

15. Now they are saying that is was a ruse.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1238916


And the yahoo story that I linked to has been changed to:

6 Gitmo Inmates Hurt in Fight With Guards
AP - 43 minutes ago
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Prisoners wielding improvised weapons attacked military guards trying to save a detainee pretending to commit suicide at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the base commander said Friday. Six prisoners were injured. U.S. guards were lured Thursday evening into a dorm-like room at a minimum-security wing of the detention center by a detainee pretending to prepare to hang himself, said Navy Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr.

[CHIMO]

16. Guantanamo detainees ambush guards

Military officials said on Friday that the clash erupted on Thursday, the same day two detainees attempted suicide in other parts of the camp.

The battle was one of the most violent incidents reported at the isolated prison, where the US holds about 460 men suspected of links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Most of the detainees have been held for more than four years without charge.

Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the prison's commanding officer, said: "This illustrates to me the dangerous nature of the men we have detained here."

The turmoil at the detention centre perched above the Caribbean on a US Navy base in southeastern Cuba began on Thursday morning, when a detainee who failed to show up for morning prayers was found unconscious in his cell, Harris said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6AEE7043-8D91-40B0-9F01-819D1A553D61.htm

[Proud_Democratt]

17. I hope they escape.

[AnOhioan]

18. That Admiral is a complete moron

"Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the prison's commanding officer, said: "This illustrates to me the dangerous nature of the men we have detained here."

Lets see how the good Admiral would react to being locked up for over four years. Friggin idiot.

[Barrett808]

19. Welcome to DU, AnOhioan

:hi:

[AnOhioan]

20. Thanks

This is my 2nd go around here on DU.

Missed the place..glad to be back

[Brigid]

21. Is anyone really surprised by this?

Anyone who has ever taken Psychology 101 would know that an environment like Gitmo just invites this sort of thing. And has anyone heard any news about any of these detainees actually being charged with anything? I know I haven't.

BTW, welcome back AnOhioan.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

22. The ambush spin wasn't there with the original story. I heard

somewhere an attorney for a lot of the detainees saying it was likely they were supporting each other in attempting suicide to escape the prison.

I tend to believe that is the case. The guys who overdosed and had charcoal used to neutralize the overdose, what they were also trying to ambush the guards???

Give me a break!

Too bad they can't make Adm Harris do a role play, using a lot of imagination, of being detained for 4 years, tortured, no hope of release, and see if that might change his perspective.

[genieroze]

23. Most of the detainees have been held for more than four years without

charges? That would piss me off.

[TexasLawyer]

24. A prior coordinated suicide effort-- 23 attempts last year

Dear Lord, this country has a lot to answer for! What must life be like there-- that death is the preferred alternative?

Guantanamo suicide tries called 'coordinated effort'

Monday, January 24, 2005 Posted: 10:31 PM EST (0331 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Twenty-three terror suspects tried to kill or harm themselves over nine days in 2003 at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to officials with the U.S. Southern Command.

The attempts occurred between August 18 and August 26 -- 10 of them on August 22, officials said.

The attempts, not previously revealed by the military, occurred in what a military official said was a "coordinated effort to disrupt camp operations." No detainees have been successful in attempts to kill themselves.

Military officials said a suicide attempt is defined as a case in which a detainee could have died had a guard not intervened, which they distinguish from self-injury attempts that were deemed intended to garner attention. <snip>


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/24/suicidal.gitmo/

[Taxloss]

25. Violent clashes as Guantánamo Bay uprising is put down by US guards

· Rebellion by inmates armed with sticks and fans
· Activists say incident shows growing despair

The Guardian

Six detainees have been injured at Guantánamo Bay in the most violent uprising since the prison began holding suspected al-Qaida and Taliban supporters four years ago.

Clashes broke out on Thursday night as 10 detainees wielding improvised weapons made from lights, fans and pieces of metal, fought with 10 US military guards, according to the Pentagon. The revolt was suppressed with "non-lethal force", including rubber bullets and pepper spray. Six of the detainees were treated for minor injuries, while some of the guards suffered bruising.

The incident was the second organised protest by prisoners in less than a year, following last August's mass hunger strike; it was seen by human rights activists as a sign of growing despair among the prison's inmates.
According to Guantánamo Bay naval base commander Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the unrest began when guards were set upon as they came to the aid of a detainee pretending to hang himself in Camp 4, a medium security section of the base where prisoners live in groups of 10.

More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1779397,00.html

[pretzel4gore]

26. reminds of buchenwald....

fukking nazipoohs.

[jerry611]

27. Suicide attempts in prison is not uncommon

I took a criminal justice class back in my early college years and my professor was a retired police commissioner. And I remember he said once that suicide attempts in prison were not uncommon, they just fail most of the time. Inmates that are considered suicide risks are placed under 24/7 suicide watch.

Some are unable to make the mental and psychological transition to prison life. They develop depression and eventually become suicidal.