JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Friday, March 02, 2007

Swiss pathologists say suicide likely cause of death in Guantanamo case
Gabriel Haboubi at 4:50 PM ET

[JURIST] A team of Swiss forensic pathologists from Institute of Legal Medicine at Lausanne University [institute website, in French] Friday announced the results of an autopsy on deceased Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Ali Abdullah [Wikipedia profile], concluding that while available evidence supported the US government claim that Abdullah committed suicide by hanging last June, it was impossible to be completely sure due to military authorities withholding information. Abdullah, a Yemeni national, was one of three detainees to commit suicide in a single night [JURIST report; JURIST news archive], the first to die that way at the US military facility.

Distrusting the military's findings, Abdullah's family had asked the institute through the Alkarama [advocacy website, in Arabic] human rights organization to perform a second autopsy. The autopsy team said they could not be absolutely certain the death was a suicide because key body parts, including the larynx and other elements of the upper airway were missing. The US military did not respond to requests for a copy of the original autopsy, or other anatomical samples. Swissinfo has more.






Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 New Bolivia law allows president to run for third term
4:08 PM ET, May 21

 Guatemala court voids ex-dictator Rios Montt's genocide conviction
3:37 PM ET, May 21

 UN urges Afghanistan to approve women's rights legislation
9:02 AM ET, May 21

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

The War on Terror and the Need for Muslim Support
DOMESTIC
Faisal Kutty
Valparaiso University Law School

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org