Yemeni official: Gitmo inmate died of asphyxiation

Source: Associated Press

Yemeni official: Gitmo inmate died of asphyxiation
Posted 12m ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Guantanamo detainee whose death has been blamed on suicide apparently died of asphyxiation, a Yemeni official said Saturday.
The preliminary conclusion, which suggests the prisoner strangled himself, offers the first details about the death of Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi, who was found unresponsive inside a psychiatric ward.

The disclosure also raises questions about how a prisoner could have choked himself to death inside the closely watched ward.

"The Yemeni government is still awaiting the autopsy report and the investigation report, but for the time being we are sticking with the scenario the U.S. government has stated," Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the embassy in Washington, told the Associated Press. He said the apparent cause of death was revealed to Yemeni officials by the U.S. government.

U.S. officials have said publicly only that the death was an apparent suicide. A prison spokesman, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, said Friday he could not comment on details of the death and officials did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment on Saturday.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-01-guantanamo_N.htm

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Attorney David Remes, who represents another detainee in Guantanamo's Behavioral Health Unit, said it is "unbelievable" that an inmate could strangle himself with wide-angle video cameras watching from the ceilings of their cells around the clock.

"The men in the psych ward are considered suicide risks," Remes said. "Where were his watchers while all this supposedly happened?"

It was the fifth apparent suicide at the detention center that opened at the Navy base in southeast Cuba in 2002.
Jamil Dakwar, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said his group wants independent investigators to look into detainee deaths.

"We have called for transparency and accountability, and now that Obama is in office, we are expecting more," he said.

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"We have called for transparency and accountability, and now that Obama is in office, we are expecting more," he said.

Yeah, well, don't hold your breath. U-bama seems quite happy to perpetuate all of these stains the bush regime inflicted on our country. But, hey! If you're a bankster, U-bama has trillions of taxpayers' dollars with your name on it!