US 'neglects mental health of Guantanamo inmates'

Lawyers who represent some of the 460 men at the prison said no one should be surprised by the suicides of three inmates at the weekend - one of whom was 17 years old when he was incarcerated and another who was earmarked for transfer.

Bill Goodman, legal director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), said:"The Bush administration has systematically and deliberately denied these men their most basic rights through a policy of choking off all contact, communication, information and hope."

"[It has] consistently fought to keep these men from lawyers, doctors and others who were willing to help them."

His comments came after a senior US official dismissed the deaths as nothing more than a "good PR stunt". The Bush administration sought to retreat from that position yesterday with Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defence for detainee affairs, telling the BBC: "We are always concerned when someone takes his own life. Because, as Americans, we value life, even the lives of violent terrorists who are captured waging war against our country."

The CCR provided a precise timetable detailing the efforts of campaigners to raise the issue of suicide risk among inmates as well as the government's tacit acknowledgement of the problem, stretching back to 2002.

There have reportedly been 41 suicide attempts made by a total of 25 prisoners. One man, Jumah al-Dossari, has tried to take his life 12 times.

In 2003, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the only independent organisation granted access to the prisoners, warned of the severe mental health issues facing many and said the nature of their incarceration and interrogation - including humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions - was "a form of torture".

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article878359.ece