Three Detainees Commit Suicide at Guantanamo

A detainee looks into the window of a cell at Camp 4 inside of the maximum security prison Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AP Photo/Mark Wilson, Pool, FILE) (Mark Wilson - AP)

Terry Henry, a Department of Justice lawyer who has been arguing the government's position in numerous Guantanamo Bay habeas cases, sent an e-mail to defense lawyers yesterday saying that only one of the three men who committed suicide has been identified as possibly having an active habeas petition. Craddock and Harris said none of the detainees had court cases or military commissions pending. Henry indicated that military commission hearings scheduled for this week will be postponed, according to his e-mail to lawyers.

Defense lawyers have been arguing for years that the lack of contact between detainees and their families -- detainees generally are not allowed phone calls and have infrequent lawyer visits -- has exacerbated the problem of isolation.

David Remes, a lawyer who represents 17 Yemenis being held at Guantanamo Bay, said yesterday that the suicides were "a tragedy in the making."

"This is the only way they can leave Guantanamo, if you will," Remes said.

In addition to the suicide attempts, dozens of detainees have launched hunger strikes over the past few years. Military officials have adopted of a policy of force-feeding those detainees, but this has spurred allegations of abuse because a restraint chair is used and because of allegedly painful feeding methods. The Pentagon this month defended the practice and formalized its use. Harris said a strike by as many as 80 detainees in May has been reduced to about eight as of yesterday.

There are about 100 Yemeni detainees and 115 Saudi Arabian detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, though U.S. officials have been working to return many to the custody of their home countries to reduce the long-term population.

Military officials have argued that the detainee suicide attempts are designed to gain attention and to manipulate world opinion. It was unclear if the detainees were aware of the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, but such detainee incidents have previously been tied to major world events. Harris said he believes the detainees have not learned that Zarqawi was killed.

"Detainees are held at JTF-Guantanamo because they are dangerous and continue to pose a threat to the U.S. and our allies," Craddock said. "They have expressed a commitment to kill Americans and our friends if released. These are not common criminals, they are enemy combatants being detained because they have waged war against our nation and they continue to pose a threat."

Staff writer Michael Abramowitz and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.