Guantanamo Bay detention camp suicide attempts
| Company type | Government department |
|---|---|
| Industry | Defense |
| Founded | January 1, 1947 |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. , United States |
| Owner | United States federal government |
| Website | www |
The United States Department of Defense (DOD) discontinued publishing data on Guantanamo suicide attempts in 2002, instead categorizing such events as instances of "self-injurious behavior". In 2003, the military reported 350 cases of self-harm, which included 120 attempts by hanging and a coordinated suicide attempt involving 23 detainees between August 18 and 26.[1] These occurrences rose after a change in command brought about more aggressive interrogation techniques.[1]
On June 10, 2006, the DOD revealed that three detainees had died by suicide at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, marking the first fatalities among inmates at the facility.[2] Prior to this, there had been 41 suicide attempts involving 29 detainees.[2] Following these events, three additional suicides were documented. In 2008, the NCIS issued a heavily redacted report concerning the suicides from 2006.
Investigations conducted by Seton Hall University Law School’s Center for Policy and Research (2009) and a collaborative inquiry by Harper's Magazine and NBC News (2010) questioned the official narrative provided by the government regarding these deaths. The Harper's piece, drawing from testimonies of former guards, accused the DOD of covering up deaths related to torture, an allegation denied by the department.
History: Conditions of detainees
In 2002, the U.S. government imposed strict confidentiality over information about Guantanamo detainees, withholding their identities and ceasing reports on suicide attempts. The DOD redefined such incidents under the label "self-injurious behavior", adopting terminology introduced during the Bush administration. Medical professionals outside the government expressed skepticism about these classifications due to limited insight into detainees’ motivations.
During spring 2003, 35 detainees—comprising 32 Afghans and three Pakistanis—were released; interviews with them disclosed widespread feelings of hopelessness and numerous suicide attempts connected to their perceived innocence, harsh detention conditions, indefinite confinement, and uncertainty.[3]
Former detainee Shah Muhammad Alikhel reported: He also highlighted insufficient supplies such as blankets.[3] Although initially rejecting allegations of abuse, in May 2004 the U.S. government faced exposure when classified documents surfaced revealing authorized harsh interrogation methods at Guantanamo, including sleep deprivation and exposure to extreme environments.[4]
As previously mentioned, in 2003 there were 350 incidents of self-harm at Guantanamo with many attempted suicides following intensified interrogation practices after leadership changes.[1]
Reported suicides on June 10, 2006
On June 10, 2006, the DOD disclosed that three detainees had died at Guantanamo in what was described as an apparent suicide pact. The deceased were Saudi nationals Mani al-Utaybi and Yasser al-Zahrani, along with Yemeni citizen Ali Abdullah Ahmed.
Prison commander Rear Admiral Harry Harris, Jr. (2006–2007) characterized these deaths as an act of asymmetric warfare targeting the United States, stressing that the detainees were "dangerous" individuals committed to killing Americans. He mentioned a detainee belief that three fatalities would pressure the DOD into releasing other prisoners.
President George Bush voiced "serious concern." Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Colleen Graffy described the suicides as "a good PR move" and "a tactic to advance the jihadi cause."
On June 12, 2006, Cully Stimson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, clarified:
I wouldn't characterize it as a good PR move. We are always concerned when someone takes his own life because as Americans, we value life—even the lives of violent terrorists captured waging war against our country.
The Scotsman interpreted this as a softening of earlier remarks by the Bush administration regarding PR implications and asymmetric warfare.
State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack dismissed the idea that this was a PR stunt, noting that detainees appeared unaware that one individual was scheduled for transfer to Saudi Arabia under custody arrangements and another was due for release there.
Attorney Joshua Denbeaux from the Center for Constitutional Rights, lead author of A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data (2006), suggested authorities withheld information about transfers pending decisions on detainee destinations.
Colonel Michael Bumgarner (April 2005 – June 2006), who commanded the camp's guard force, responded by telling officers: "The trust level is gone. They have shown time and time again that we can't trust them any farther than we can throw them. There is not a trustworthy son of a ... in the entire bunch."
Doubts Surrounding Suicide Reports
The Associated Press highlighted doubts regarding whether the Saudi detainees had actually taken their own lives. Both the Saudi government and the detainees' families suggested that torture might have driven the men to suicide, while several influential Saudis accused the detention facility's staff of causing their deaths.
It was observed:
Within Saudi Arabia, some questioned if Muslim men would commit suicide given that it is considered a serious sin in Islam. Defense attorneys and former inmates indicated that many detainees at Guantanamo endure profound hopelessness due to extended imprisonment.
Saudi attorney Kateb al Shimri, who represented the prisoners, stated: "The families reject this narrative, and naturally, I do as well. A crime has occurred here, and U.S. officials are accountable."
Joshua Denbeaux from the Center for Constitutional Rights described the suicides as: "... the Pentagon’s worst possible scenario," noting that numerous detainees had made suicide attempts over prolonged periods.
Senator Arlen Specter, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, remarked: "If evidence exists, those responsible should face trial and sentencing." He also criticized many detentions as being based on "... the most tenuous hearsay."
Official Responses and Inquiry
Admiral Harris commented: "It’s less about how long they’ve been held... More so, it’s that they continue resisting; I believe most detainees oppose us."
On July 9, 2006, The Jurist reported that Department of Defense representatives claimed the detainees had external assistance. The DOD asserted that notes outlining suicide plans were found on blank sheets provided to detainees’ attorneys. During an Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) probe, camp officials confiscated nearly all detainee paperwork—including confidential lawyer correspondence—amounting to approximately half a ton of documents. The administration aimed to halt lawyer visits temporarily while reviewing potential involvement in organizing the suicides. (A heavily redacted NCIS report was publicly released in August 2008.)
Defense counsel reported that camp officials seized mail and legal materials, attributing this action to suspicions by the DOD that lawyers might have facilitated or orchestrated the suicides. Clive Stafford Smith, legal director of Reprieve, dismissed these allegations as "absurd."
Statements from Former Detainees Familiar with the Deceased
Bahraini former detainee Abdulla Majid Al Naimi, who was freed in November 2005, said he knew all three men who died. He explained that Al-Utaybi and Ahmed were apprehended while studying in Pakistan and underwent only brief questioning upon arrival at Guantanamo. Their interrogators reportedly indicated they were not viewed as threats and could anticipate release.
Interrogations took place solely during the initial month of detention. For more than a year before my release in November 2005, they were left largely undisturbed but remained subjected to harsh conditions imposed by camp personnel.
Al Naimi pointed out that Al Zahrani was only 16 years old at capture and should have been treated as a juvenile. He stressed that Al Zahrani was 21 at death—just reaching adulthood—and argued that he ought to have been handed over to juvenile authorities.
Allegations of Homicide and Concealment
Murder allegations at Guantanamo Bay surfaced between late 2009 and early 2010, relating to the deaths of three detainees in June 2006 at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Two of these individuals had already been approved for release. Initially, the Department of Defense (DOD) classified these fatalities as suicides, but both the detainees' families and the Saudi government challenged this conclusion. Consequently, the DOD tasked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) with conducting an inquiry.
Following the publication of a heavily redacted NCIS report in 2008, Seton Hall University Law School’s Center for Policy and Research issued Death in Camp Delta (2009). This report criticized the NCIS investigation for its inconsistencies and raised concerns about potential gross negligence or a deliberate cover-up of homicides linked to torture practices. Importantly, no military personnel were ever prosecuted in connection with these deaths.
In 2010, a joint investigation by Harper's Weekly and NBC News drew on statements from four former Military Intelligence officers stationed at Guantanamo. Journalist and lawyer Scott Horton accused the Bush administration of suppressing information about detainee deaths that occurred during torture sessions at a clandestine interrogation site. Horton's 2011 exposé received the National Magazine Award for Reporting but also reignited controversy regarding its factual accuracy.
Concerns Raised by Defense Counsel
Throughout 2006 and subsequent years, defense attorneys voiced apprehensions about their clients’ psychological well-being. Mark Denbeaux, a law professor at Seton Hall University and head of its Center for Policy and Research, which produced analyses on conditions at Guantanamo, represented two detainees from Tunisia. In June 2006, he cautioned that additional detainees faced heightened suicide risks. Denbeaux observed that one client, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, appeared visibly despondent during a visit while engaged in a hunger strike and was shortly thereafter subjected to force-feeding. Rahman reportedly expressed a preference to "die rather than remain in Guantánamo" and doubted he would ever be released alive.
In 2008, the Canadian Supreme Court mandated the release of an interrogation video from February 2003 conducted by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) alongside a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer involving Omar Khadr, a Canadian national detained at age 15 and among the youngest held at Guantánamo. The footage captures Khadr, then 16 years old, repeatedly crying out phrases interpreted as "help me," "kill me," or calling his mother in Urdu. The Canadian government reviewed CSIS’s interrogation methods concerning its citizens held at Guantánamo amid emerging evidence of detainee mistreatment prior to questioning. Khadr faced trial at Guantánamo in 2010; he entered a guilty plea under a plea agreement, served one year there, and was repatriated to Canada in 2012 to complete his sentence.
Fourth Suicide on May 30, 2007
On May 30, 2007, the Southern Command announced that a Saudi detainee had died by suicide. The individual was discovered unresponsive within his cell, and authorities committed to handling his remains with cultural respect. Initially, the Department of Defense withheld his identity.
The following day, Saudi officials identified the deceased as Abdul Rahman Maadha al-Amry, a former member of the Saudi military regarded as one of the "high-value detainees" confined in Camp 5. Reports indicated he had never been granted access to legal counsel.
Media reports underscored that this death occurred almost one year after three similar fatalities in June 2006, coinciding with leadership changes at JTF-GTMO and preceding the commencement of military commissions tasked with prosecuting detainees.
Documents obtained through FOIA requests released in 2017 disclosed that Al Amri was found hanging with his hands bound behind his back. NCIS investigators questioned how suicide was possible under constant surveillance and noted that the air vent used for hanging was situated more than eight feet above ground level. Despite no formal attorney visits recorded, confidential attorney-client documents were discovered among his belongings and subsequently delivered to Guantanamo's Judge Advocate's Office.
Fifth suicide June 1, 2009
On June 1, 2009, Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi, a 31-year-old detainee from Yemen, was found dead at Guantanamo Bay. The following day, the Department of Defense confirmed his death was a suicide. Reporters covering the military tribunal of Omar Khadr, the youngest and final Western detainee at the facility, were present at the time but were prohibited from reporting on Al Hanashi’s death until after they had exited the base.
Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act in 2016 disclosed that Al Hanashi had strangled himself using an elastic band from his underwear. The investigation faced obstacles when personnel in Guantanamo’s Behavioral Health Unit were directed to disable computer logging during the event; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) never determined who gave this order. Al Hanashi had made several recent suicide attempts and was under suicide watch. It was also noted with surprise by some staff that he was wearing clothing not authorized for detainees.
Regarded as a leader among inmates, Al Hanashi protested changes to Behavioral Health Unit regulations on the day he died. He had reported experiencing torture and left behind a note expressing frustration that his complaints were ignored, stating he no longer wished to live.
Sixth suicide May 18, 2011
The Department of Defense announced that Inayatullah, a 37-year-old Afghan detainee held since 2007 on allegations of Al Qaeda affiliation, was discovered dead on May 18, 2011, in what appeared to be a suicide. His legal representative identified him as Hajji Nassim. He was designated an "indefinite detainee" after being captured near the Iran-Afghanistan border.
Reported suicide attempts
| Juma Al Dossary |
|
| Mishal Awad Sayaf Alhabiri |
|
| Sha Mohammed Alikhel |
|
| Mass suicide attempt |
|
| Muhammad Saad Iqbal |
|
| Unidentified Saudi detainee |
|
| Unknown |
|
| Allal Ab Aljallil Abd Al Rahman Abd |
|
See also
- Prisoner suicide
- Guantanamo Bay homicide accusations
- Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi—detainee who was tortured while in CIA custody and reportedly committed suicide after being returned to Libya
External links
- Death in Camp Delta, Seton Hall University School of Law – Examination of NCIS’s June 2006 Suicide Investigation
- Scott Horton, "Law School Study Finds Evidence Of Cover-Up After Three Alleged Suicides At Guantanamo in 2006", Huffington Post, December 7, 2009
- Scott Horton, "The Guantánamo 'Suicides': A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle", Harper's Magazine, January 2010
- William Fisher, "Guantanamo deaths in 2006 won't go away", The Arab American News, June 5, 2010
- Guantanamo detainees, U.S. documents released through FOIA
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNytimes050125 - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgallewis - ↑ Dana Priest and Joe Stephens. "Pentagon Approved Tougher Interrogations". The Washington Post.