28/06/2006
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED
A BAHRAINI detainee at Guantanamo Bay has confirmed he slashed his own throat and leg in a 13th suicide attempt after jamming the lock of his cell with the top of a yoghurt container.
The revelation follows the deaths of three prisoners at the widely condemned US prison camp in Cuba on June 10, who are said to have hung themselves with nooses made from bed sheets and clothing. Bahraini Juma Al Dossary, aged 32, described his latest attempt to end his life during a meeting with his lawyer at the maximum security facility in May, but notes taken by lawyers were only declassified this month. Initial reports alleging Al Dossary had slashed his own throat emerged in April, but the US military refused to provide information on his condition to the Dorsey and Whitney lawyers representing the three Bahraini detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The three Bahrainis currently incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay - Al Dossary, Salah Abdulrasool Al Bloushi, 24, and Isa Al Murbati, 41 - are approaching a fifth year of detention without trial. Their lawyers Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, Mark Sullivan and Christopher Karagheuzoff called for maximum efforts to be exerted in Bahrain towards their release, saying the situation "could not be more desperate or grave". "During our recent visit to Guantanamo Juma Al Dossary described to us his last suicide attempt which occurred on March 11," Joshua Colangelo-Bryan said. "We saw a large, deep and red scar on Juma's leg. We also saw a scar across his Adam's apple. "Juma told us that he had been feeling utterly hopeless in general and that on March 11, those feelings were overwhelming. "Although he was fighting with himself to maintain a sense of emotional balance, he said that he had become too sad and desperate and felt too isolated to continue. "He decided to kill himself. "At 11pm, he jammed the lock to his cell door by inserting the top of a yoghurt container in the lock. "He then took a razor that he had been hiding and cut a vein in his leg below the knee - this caused tremendous bleeding. "A soldier walked by Juma's cell and saw the blood. He called for help and many guards arrived. "The guards yelled at Juma not to hurt himself, but they could not open the door because it had been jammed. "Juma then took his blanket and put it over his head so that he would not have to see the guards and they could not see him. "Looking into the mirror in his cell, he slashed open his throat. "After doing this, Juma was in and out of consciousness. He said that the floor and walls of his cell were covered in blood. "Eventually, guards were able to open the door and got Juma to the hospital where he had surgery. "In light of Juma's condition and the recent deaths at Guantanamo, we could not be more concerned for Juma. "In fact, the situation could not be more desperate or grave. "We implore those who care about him in Bahrain to do everything in their power to bring him and our other clients home."
SOURCE: Gulf Daily News |
