MADINAH, 30 June 2006 — Yasser Al-Zahrani, the 21-year-old Guantanamo detainee who reportedly hung himself with a noose fashioned from a bed sheet on June 10, was laid to rest in the holy city of Madinah yesterday. Some 5,000 mourners attended his funeral.
The body arrived at around 7 p.m. in Madinah and was washed and prepared for burial. The father was too grief stricken to talk. Bandar, an uncle of the deceased, was outraged and accused the United States of covering up murder.
“He didn’t commit suicide,” said Bandar. “If he wanted to, why didn’t he do it sooner rather than later?”
Bandar repeated claims published in the local media recently that internal organs were missing from the body.
“He was killed,” said Bandar emphatically.
The family of Yasser thanked Interior Minister Prince Naif for facilitating all the procedures of repatriating the bodies of the two Saudis. Manie Al-Otaibi, 26, the other Saudi detainee who committed suicide, was laid to rest Wednesday afternoon in Riyadh. Ali Ahmed, 26, a Yemeni national, also reportedly committed suicide in his cell.
Family members of the deceased met with a medical committee at the Interior Ministry building in Riyadh on Wednesday and were briefed on the examination and autopsies of the bodies to determine the causes of death. According to Yasser’s relatives, the committee will release the findings of the autopsies in a month.
“We cannot allow speculation that they were beaten or tortured before the medical report is released,” said Kateb Al-Shammari, the lawyer representing the families of the deceased. The families reject the suggestion that Manie and Yasser committed suicide.
Others have suggested that Guantanamo prisoners are suffering from the psychological duress that provides ideal conditions for suicide, which is prohibited by Islam. There have been 41 suicide attempts since the prison’s inception.
US Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris, who leads operations at the prison, told the media that rumors had been spreading among the detainees that the suicide of three prisoners would be sufficient to garner international attention that would close the prison.
Psychological duress, and particularly the participation of psychologists in the interrogation of Gitmo detainees, has raised ethical questions that have pitted experts from the US and Britain against one another.
