Reprieve releases interim report on suicides in Guantánamo Bay including first-hand information about the dead men and their hunger strike

13.06.06

Reprieve, the London-based legal charity representing 36 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, today released an interim report regarding the three suicides in Guantánamo Bay. The report provides for the first time personal information about the dead men, including personal insights by former Guantánamo prisoners Tarek Dergoul and Shafiq Rasul and information from fellow prisoners about the hunger strikes in which the men were taking part. The report corrects misinformation released by the United States Department of Defense about the number of suicide attempts in Guantánamo. It also discusses the cultural issues regarding autopsy and burial and the need for an independent investigation into the deaths.

“The United States is working desperately to paint these three men as jihadists, beasts, without providing any evidence whatsoever to back up these allegations. The United States claims it is handling everything surrounding these suicides with cultural sensitivity. Well, it is worth noting the question of talking ill of the dead. The prisoners were not given the chance to defend themselves when alive, and now they are being slandered when dead. Enough. Let us see the evidence against them – if there is any. Let us learn who they truly are as people. Let us treat them with respect,” said Clive Stafford Smith, Legal Director of Reprieve.

Click here to read the interim report.