Guantanamo suicides spark renewed calls for release of Saudi detainees News
Guantanamo suicides spark renewed calls for release of Saudi detainees

[JURIST] The suicides of three detainees [JURIST report], two Saudis and a Yemeni, at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] on Saturday prompted Saudi Interior Ministry officials to renew calls on Sunday for all Saudi prisoners to be released from the military camp and returned to Saudi Arabia where they can face charges. The US, which freed 15 Saudis from Guantanamo [JURIST report] last month, has faced increasing criticism from the United Nations [JURIST report], other countries and human rights groups about detainees' continued imprisonment at the camp. A lawyer for the Saudi detainees denounced the imprisonment at Guantanamo without charges, characterizing the detainees' treatment as "oppression and injustice."

Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the chief commander at Guantanamo, called the suicides an "act of warfare" [Telegraph report] against the US that were planned to elicit sympathy. According to US military officials, there have been 41 suicide attempts by 23 inmates since Guantanamo opened. Reuters has more.