Amnesty International Responds to Detainee Deaths in Guantanamo Bay

12 June 2006

Jumana Musa, Amnesty International USA's advocacy director for Domestic Human Rights and International Justice, made the following statement in response to the deaths of three detainees held in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

"These apparent suicides, while regrettable, are the tragic results of years of arbitrary and indefinite detention, and the latest chapter in the human rights travesty that has emerged from years of the administration's attempts to circumvent the rule of law. Amnesty International, the International Committee of the Red Cross, detainees' attorneys and others have long expressed grave concern over the psychological deterioration that results from prolonged detention without charge, trial, or any indication that their situation will be resolved.

"Amnesty International called for the closure of Guantanamo over a year ago, and the UN, the EU, and several U.S. allies have echoed that call. While the United States has an obligation to protect its citizens and those living within its borders from attacks by armed groups, that obligation does not relieve it from its absolute responsibility to comply with human rights and the rule of law. By rounding up men from all over the world and confining them in an isolated penal colony without charge or trial, the United States has violated several U.S. and international laws and treaties.

"Simple statements by the administration that these men are 'enemy combatants,' 'terrorists,' or 'very bad people' does not justify the complete lack of due process rights. Amnesty International calls on President Bush to close the detention facilities in Guantanamo, and either charge detainees with a recognizable criminal offense and give them a fair trial, or release them unconditionally. The President recently stated that he would like to 'end the Guantanamo.' He does not have to wait for the Supreme Court or any other governmental body to make it happen. Guantanamo and all of the various processes that came with it were a creation of the President and the executive branch, and the administration can choose to end this ill-advised policy.

"The Administration should stop trying to minimize the desperate actions of detainees with language that does not reflect the seriousness of the matter at hand. Colorful euphemisms such as 'manipulative self injurious behavior' and 'hanging gestures,' both used by the administration to refer to suicide attempts in the past, only belittle the gravity of the situation that detainees are facing and the extreme measures they are willing to take to escape the hopelessness with which they view their situation.

"Today's reported suicides of detainees in Guantanamo should serve as a wake up call to President Bush and his administration that Guantanamo is not just a public relations problem, but instead an indictment on its deteriorating human rights record."

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Source: usnewswire

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