Families of
Guantanamo detainees want the truth about "suicides"
WASHINGTON, March 18.— The families of men who
died in 2006 in the prison located on the illegal
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base – whose deaths the U.S.
army presented as suicides – have petitioned the
courts to reconsider their lawsuit, given new
testimony by army officers who were on the base when
those events occurred, the AFP reported on Thursday.
In
an appeal presented to the federal court in
Washington – acquired by the French news agency –
the relatives of the deceased state that they have
discovered "extraordinary and disturbing facts" in
relation to the deaths of their sons Yasser al-Zahrani
(Saudi Arabian, aged 22) and Salah al-Salami (Yemeni,
aged 33).
Their appeal is based on the statements of four
military officers. One, Joe Hickman, a high-ranking
officer, was on duty at a watch tower with a view of
the cells where the two men were held overnight from
June 9-10, 2006.
Hickman said that he witnessed three men being
transferred from their cells to another area of the
camp and then, when the van transporting them
returned, saw something being deposited at the
infirmary.
Three minutes later, when the camp was in full
turmoil, Joe Hickman asked one of the nurses for
details of what was going on. According to Hickman,
the nurse responded that three dead prisoners had
been delivered to the clinic, that they had died of
asphyxia because they had rags stuffed down their
throats." One of the prisoners was also severely
bruised.
