Guantanamo Detainees Attempted Suicide: Doctors

GUANTANAMO BAY, August 15 (News Agencies) - At least 30 Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba have tried to commit suicide, doctors at the detention center say, the BBC’s online news service reported Thursday, August 15.

The new center, in operation for the past seven months, is now almost at full capacity.

Last week 34 new arrivals took the number of detainees to 598, the BBC said.

Over the months doctors have dealt with at least 30 incidents they see as suicide attempts, which have ranged from detainees attempting to cut themselves with plastic utensils to banging their heads against walls.

However, none of the detainees was able to do much damage to himself, the BBC said.

The BBC said that “Commander Radkee says some of this behavior is seen as a sign that the detainees are showing remorse for their actions.”

The new camp has given detainees new conditions. Their new cells have metal beds, foam mattresses, flushing toilets and sinks with runnig water, the BBC reported.

The new cells are also smaller than those at Camp X-ray which were 1.8 meters wide and 2.4 meters long. The new cells have solid walls, in contrast with X-ray’s which were made of wire mesh, the BBC said.

Earlier Wednesday, August 14, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon criticized the United States for its treatment of prisoners from the war in Afghanistan, news agencies reported.