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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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June 2nd,
2009 - Yemeni Prisoner in Guantanamo Commits Suicide: U.S. |
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Yemeni Prisoner in
Guantanamo Commits Suicide: U.S. By Jane Sutton Reuters June 2, 2009 Miami - A Yemeni captive
died in an apparent suicide at the detention center for foreign terrorism
suspects on the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba, the U.S. military
said on Tuesday. The death is the sixth
overall and the fifth by suicide among captives at the prison camp that new
U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered shut down by January 2010. The camp opened in 2002 to
hold terrorist suspects in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United
States has been a focus of international criticism for denying detainees
legal rights. The U.S. military identified
the dead man as 31-year-old Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Salih, also known as Al
Hanashi, but did not say specifically how he died. Guards found him
unresponsive and not breathing when they checked his cell on Monday night,
according to the U.S. military's Southern Command, which has responsibility
for the Guantanamo base. "Medical personnel were
immediately summoned by the guard force. After extensive lifesaving measures
had been exhausted, the detainee was pronounced dead by a physician,"
the Southern Command said in a news release. The Naval Criminal
Investigative Service has begun an investigation to determine how he died, the
military said. The man had been held at
Guantanamo since February 2002, the military said. An autopsy was pending and a
"cultural adviser" was ensuring that his body was being treated
respectfully and in accordance with Muslim tradition, the military said. "Upon completion of the
autopsy, the remains will be prepared for repatriation to Yemen," the
military said. Since the detention camp
opened in January 2002, four other prisoners have committed suicide by
hanging themselves in their cells. One other died of natural causes -
colorectal cancer. Editing by Pascal Fletcher. External link: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55175720090602 |