Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
December 5, 2007 By William Glaberson
A prisoner at the detention camp here cut his throat with his own fingernail last month, causing a substantial loss of blood, but was never at risk of death, military officials said Tuesday.
''He did in fact use a sharpened fingernail,'' Cmdr. Andrew Haynes, the deputy commander of the guard force here, told reporters on a tour of the camp.
Commander Haynes said there had been four to six occurrences in the last two months in which detainees harmed themselves, a rate that he said was consistent with recent experience. Those instances show that a potentially deadly struggle between detainees and their jailers continues, largely out of public view. One detainee committed suicide in May, after three other suicides the previous June, and there have also been numerous suicide attempts.
Advocates for detainees describe such acts as signs of desperation born of indefinite detention and hopelessness. But camp administrators call them a tactic to draw publicity and provoke criticism of the government.
The self-inflicted harm involving the detainee with the sharpened nail occurred in early November but was not disclosed at the time. Responding to questions from reporters, Commander Haynes confirmed that the detainee had intentionally injured himself while in the shower, saying he had been stopped because of ''the vigilance of the guard force.'' He did not describe how the detainee had sharpened his nail.
Senior military medical officers said there had been ''a lot of bleeding'' from the wound, which one said had required stitches to close. They classified the occurrence as a ''suicidal gesture,'' a category that falls short of what they deem suicide attempts.
Officials here have described the recent months as a relatively calm period in the five-year history of the detention operation at Guantanamo, where about 305 detainees are now held. Guantanamo officials have emphasized recent efforts to reduce tensions, for instance giving some detainees the opportunity to see nature films. But it is also clear that some detainees remain locked in a long-term struggle with guards.
In interviews with reporters Tuesday, officials said nine detainees remained on hunger strikes and were being force-fed daily. The detainee engaged in the longest of the hunger strikes, the officials said, has been force-fed for 816 days.
December 5, 2007 By William Glaberson
A prisoner at the detention camp here cut his throat with his own fingernail last month, causing a substantial loss of blood, but was never at risk of death, military officials said Tuesday.
''He did in fact use a sharpened fingernail,'' Cmdr. Andrew Haynes, the deputy commander of the guard force here, told reporters on a tour of the camp.
Commander Haynes said there had been four to six occurrences in the last two months in which detainees harmed themselves, a rate that he said was consistent with recent experience. Those instances show that a potentially deadly struggle between detainees and their jailers continues, largely out of public view. One detainee committed suicide in May, after three other suicides the previous June, and there have also been numerous suicide attempts.
Advocates for detainees describe such acts as signs of desperation born of indefinite detention and hopelessness. But camp administrators call them a tactic to draw publicity and provoke criticism of the government.
The self-inflicted harm involving the detainee with the sharpened nail occurred in early November but was not disclosed at the time. Responding to questions from reporters, Commander Haynes confirmed that the detainee had intentionally injured himself while in the shower, saying he had been stopped because of ''the vigilance of the guard force.'' He did not describe how the detainee had sharpened his nail.
Senior military medical officers said there had been ''a lot of bleeding'' from the wound, which one said had required stitches to close. They classified the occurrence as a ''suicidal gesture,'' a category that falls short of what they deem suicide attempts.
Officials here have described the recent months as a relatively calm period in the five-year history of the detention operation at Guantanamo, where about 305 detainees are now held. Guantanamo officials have emphasized recent efforts to reduce tensions, for instance giving some detainees the opportunity to see nature films. But it is also clear that some detainees remain locked in a long-term struggle with guards.
In interviews with reporters Tuesday, officials said nine detainees remained on hunger strikes and were being force-fed daily. The detainee engaged in the longest of the hunger strikes, the officials said, has been force-fed for 816 days.