Gitmo Targeted after Detainees Kill Themselves

The suicides of two Saudis and one Yemeni at the U.S.-run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has renewed calls from those critical of U.S. policy in the war on terror for the facility to be shut down. While military officials have noted that there had been a sort of ?messianic prophecy? amongst prisoners that the suicide deaths of three would force the facility to be shut down, liberals and even some moderate Republicans have expressed concern over the methods used to jail prisoners at ?Gitmo?.

Set up after the September 11 terrorist attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban, the facility at Guantanamo Bay has been the focus of human rights groups concerned over the treatment of terror suspects. Critics of the arguments of such groups note that those who are trying to kill Americans do not have even the same rights as common criminals, but that hasn?t stopped efforts to get Guantanamo Bay closed.

Past incidents of concern having to do with the detention center include erroneous reports that guards flushed Korans down a toilet, which sparked riots around the world leading to deaths that could have been prevented (as the reports, from a prominent magazine, were later shown to be false). Those held at Guantanamo Bay are generally classified as ?enemy combatants? and not as ?prisoners of war?, as they are usually not members of foreign armies and themselves operate against common rules of decency and morality.

                                 

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