Guantanomo Media Access Ends After Suicides

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - "More than 1,000 journalists have visited Guantanamo Bay since the U.S. military began locking up suspected al-Qaida and Taliban militants there 4½ years ago. But access has been severely restricted: Journalists could not talk to detainees, they had to be accompanied by a military escort and their photos were censored.

Now, the Pentagon has shut down access entirely — at least temporarily — expelling reporters this week and triggering an outcry from human rights groups, attorneys and media organizations even as the prison comes under renewed criticism for the suicides of three detainees last weekend.

“Now is the time when the media is most needed,” said Clive Stafford Smith, an attorney who has filed legal challenges on behalf of about 40 detainees. “The fact that right now, the most important time in the history of Guantanamo, they are being banned is un-American.”

Pentagon officials defended the temporary ban on media, saying guards and base officials are preoccupied with investigating the deaths and maintaining security as detainees become more defiant. A clash with guards in May left six detainees injured. Another 10 prisoners were on hunger strike Thursday, including six being force-fed with nasal tubes."

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