Study Faults Guantanamo Death Probe

by Barbara McPherson | December 8, 2009 at 11:07 am

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A study by Seton Hall University into the deaths of three detainees at Guantanamo Prison Camp, faults the military for failing to provide credible answers into the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
The three detainees were found dead in their cells in June of 2006 of apparent suicide. Yassat Talaal al Zahrani, Mani Shaman al Habardi al Tabi and Ali Abdullah Ahmed were found well after their deaths in spite of video coverage as well as guards. The story of the circumstances surrounding these men's deaths is improbable at best.

But questions have been raised about the official account of the way the men took their own lives. The military says that the men braided nooses for themselves, tied their hands and feet together, climbed onto their sink in their cells, and hung themselves.

The three bodies reportedly hung in their cells for two hours before being discovered, despite the cells being under video and guard supervision. When they were found, each man was also discovered to have "a rag obstructing his throat", the study says.

The study perused many pages surrounding the deaths of the detainees, but could not obtain a clear account because of the military censorship of the records.
To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths of these three detainees in what at the most charitable can be considered suspicious circumstances.