Posted on 06/11/2006 4:29:01 PM PDT by Alouette
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The reported suicides of two Saudi detainees at Guantanamo Bay intensified Saudi anger at the camp, drawing questions Sunday about whether the men really killed themselves or were driven to it by torture.
The detention of more than 130 Saudis at the U.S. jail has long grated on people in the kingdom, and there was marked skepticism that the prisoners committed suicide.
"The families don't believe it, and of course I don't believe it either," said Kateb al Shimri, a lawyer who represents relatives of Saudis held at Guantanamo.
"A crime was committed here and the U.S. authorities are responsible," al Shimri said, echoing the general sentiment heard in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Al Shimri said he planned to sue the U.S. government for compensation on behalf of the relatives of the deceased.
The kingdom's semiofficial human rights organization called for an independent investigation into the deaths of the two Saudis, who were identified Sunday by Saudi officials as Mani bin Shaman bin Turki al Habradi and Yasser Talal Abdullah Yahya al Zahrani.
A Yemini prisoner also killed himself early Saturday, U.S. authorities said. His identity was not released.
Many Saudis denounced the suicide claim as a fabrication, and some accused U.S. authorities of complicity in the inmates' deaths.
"There are no independent monitors at the detention camp so it is easy to pin the crime on the prisoners, given that it's possible they were tortured," said Mufleh al-Qahtani, deputy director of the state-sponosred Saudi Human Rights Group.
Saleh al-Khathlan, director of monitoring at the rights group, explicitly accused Guantanamo officials of torturing detainees.
"Even if the suicide story is true, I have no doubts that they were pushed to it by torture and the lack of attention paid to the health of the detainees," he said.
The families of other Saudi detainees also questioned the U.S. version.
"They were killed; they were murdered. This was no suicide," said Lulua al Dakheel, whose son, 22-year-old Fahed al Fouzan, has been at Guantanamo for more than four years.
Speaking through tears, she added: "There are no guarantees that my son won't be next. These people (U.S. officials) can't be trusted. They treat their dogs better than they treat our sons."
Some people in the conservative Islamic kingdom questioned whether Muslim men would kill themselves since suicide is a grave sin in Islam. But defense lawyers and some former detainees said many prisoners at Guantanamo are wasting away in deep despair at their long captivity.
The U.S. military said the bodies of the two Saudis and one Yemeni were found in their cells, hanging from sheets and clothing. Officials said all three left suicide notes.
According to U.S. military officials, the dead men had previously engaged in a hunger strike to protest their indefinite incarceration and had been force-fed before quitting their protest.
One of the detainees was accused by U.S. officials of being a mid- or high-level al-Qaida operative, while another was captured in Afghanistan and participated in a riot at a prison there, said the jail's commander, Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris. The third belonged to a splinter group, he said.
___
Associated Press writer Lara Sukhtian in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Well our dogs smell better.
Warning. If you don't want to submit yourself to torture, don't hang out with terrorists.
BTW: Would the Saudi's please point to specific instances of torture with documentation. I'm still not buying off on these types of charges.
This is exactly the response the suicides were aiming for. Let's put all the detainees on a boat to the Middle East, then sink it halfway to its destination. Case solved.
The House of Saud needs to keep their own public outraged at the USA as to deflect their human right abuses
Well, there was a documented instance of a guard eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Ramadan in front of fasting prisoners.
And, I think, another instance of an infidel guard touching a Koran with his ungloved left hand.
Hey, the cells at Gitmo looked better than most kennels here, and certainly better than the prison conditions in their own countries.
yeah, the penultimate of human rights Saudi Arabia has any leeway to comment.
We also treat our dogs better that you treat your women.
of course they do...
It isn't as if THEY don't torture anyone or anything in THEIR prisons is it?
It really must be torture to be in prison, and eating regularly rather than being allowed to kill women and children on a daily basis.
O'Reilly is covering Gitmo on Monday night. He has been there this past week-end. It will be interesting to see if he says anything about this.
Okay. My bad. Heh heh heh...
How many dogs eat like this?: Gourmet Fare at Gitmo 'Gulag'
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the House Armed Services Committee chairman began by detailing tonight's dinner menu at Gitmo - which all detainees, including one suspected of being involved in the 9/11 plot, will enjoy.
"For Sunday they're going to be having Orange Glazed Chicken, Fresh Fruit Roupee, Steamed Peas and Mushrooms, Rice Pilaf - we treat them very well," he told Fox.
Last night, Hunter said, the U.S. "torture victims" enjoyed the same kind of gourmet fare, including an entree of "Lemon-baked Fish."
L
Next to last?
Yeah, I figure the democratic republic of the Congo(which is neither democratic nor a republic) who's favorite sport is hacking limbs is probably last.
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