WASHINGTON, 2 November 2005 — A Bahraini detainee at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay attempted suicide during his lawyer’s visit in a sign of growing desperation among the more than 500 detainees in the military camp, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
Jumah Al-Dossari, who has been held since late 2001 after being seized in Pakistan, slashed his arm and hung himself from the ceiling during a bathroom break from talks with his US lawyer on Oct. 15, the Post reported.
While suicide attempts have been reported before in the Guantanamo prison, located on a US navy base in Cuba, it was the first to be witnessed by an outsider.
The newspaper said lawyers believe Al-Dossari was reacting to nearly two years of solitary confinement and attempting to communicate his plight to people outside the walls of the prison.
As many as 200 inmates are reported to have taken part in a rolling hunger strike since August to protest conditions at the prison. According to the Post, two dozen are being force-fed by prison staff.
Meanwhile, five Kuwaitis are to be released from Guantanamo Bay after more than three years in captivity, a private lobby group said in Kuwait.
“Their release is confirmed. We could say they will be coming home in the next four days if nothing happens to the aircraft,” Khaled Al-Odah, chairman of Families of Kuwaiti Detainees at Guantanamo, said yesterday.
Two of the soon-to-be-released Kuwaiti detainees are reported to be in critical health. An Interior Ministry source identified the five detainees as Adel Al-Zamel, Mohammad Al-Daihani, Abdullah Al-Ajmi, Saad Al-Azmi and Abdulaziz Al-Shimmary.
