Red Cross breaks silence on Guantanamo prisoners to lambast US approach

By Andrew Buncombe and Matthew Beard

11 October 2003

The Red Cross said yesterday that it had noticed a "worrying deterioration" in the mental health of the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. It also criticised the Bush administration for refusing to allow the men access to lawyers or impose a legal framework.

Breaking its silence more than 18 months after the first of the 660 or so alleged Taliban or al-Qa'ida prisoners were incarcerated at the prison camp, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said more than 30 suicide attempts by prisoners was evidence something was badly wrong. It said it had decided to speak out - an extremely unusual step - because ongoing negotiations with the Bush administration had failed to get results. A spokeswoman said: "Since they have been at Guantanamo Bay they have effectively been put beyond the law. Effectively, none of the prisoners knows their fate. There is no information about how long they are going to be there. We have been able to witness the impact of this. There has been a serious deterioration in their psychological well-being."

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