Guantanamo Was Prepared for Suicide Attempts
Risk That Detainees Will Harm Themselves Is Heightened by Conditions at Prison, Say Psychologists

By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 2, 2003; Page A07

MIAMI -- Deep on the list of criteria for sending suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters to the U.S. Navy prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was one guideline that seemed innocuous alongside the allegations that they were dangerous terrorists. It dictated, according to U.S. military officials, that any captured soldiers believed to be suicide risks would be detained at Guantanamo, where U.S. troops could monitor them 24 hours a day.

"Right from the start, it was known there were individuals capable and willing to harm themselves," a U.S. military official familiar with the assignment process said. "One of the reasons they were brought there was because it was thought they would be a harm to themselves."

That expectation has turned into reality. In the course of one week in mid-February, three detainees tried to kill themselves, raising the number of suicide attempts to 19 since detainees were brought to the island in January 2002. Nine of those attempts have been recorded since mid-January.

The suicide attempts -- most by hanging using clothes or bedsheets -- involve 16 detainees. Three have made multiple attempts. None of the suicide attempts has been successful, though at least one detainee is in serious but stable condition at the base hospital.

Military officials say they made preparations to handle the suicide risks, though they would not describe them in detail. But experts in correctional psychology say the problem is likely heightened by the hopelessness and stress some of the detainees may experience because of a long confinement with no foreseeable end, and by prison rules that forbid contact with families and lawyers.

The cluster of attempts has renewed criticism from human rights organizations, which have long faulted the government's decision to hold the prisoners as "unlawful combatants," without charges or protections under international prisoner of war statutes.

"As far as they know, they're going to be there forever," said Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. "It must give people a sense of desperation. . . . This is like a Devil's Island."

Ratner questioned whether stress caused by aggressive interrogation techniques might have contributed to the suicide attempts. His organization has asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States to investigate allegations that the United States has mistreated detainees held at military bases, including Guantanamo, worldwide and has transferred detainees for questioning to nations that allow the use of torture. U.S. officials have said privately that interrogators at Guantanamo are likely to use psychological pressure during interrogations, but they deny using torture on any prisoner held by the United States.

The critical reaction to the suicide attempts at the Guantanamo prison has piqued U.S. military officials, who maintain that detainees are treated humanely and believe that their guards are not getting enough credit for acting quickly to stop attempted suicides. In that respect, the Guantanamo prison is ahead of many of its civilian counterparts, officials said.

Suicide attempts are commonplace in U.S. civilian jails, according to corrections experts. Various studies have shown that between 54 and 107 out of every 100,000 inmates in U.S. jails kill themselves. For every successful suicide, there are typically 20 unsuccessful attempts, says the American Association of Suicidology.

In Guantanamo,16 of about 650 detainees, or nearly 2.5 percent, have attempted suicide. Investigators believe some of the attempts may have been "manipulative" efforts to disrupt the camp's operations or to unnerve guards, a U.S. military official said.

The detainees are held in one-person cells inside three maximum-security blocks -- known as Camps I, II and III -- which replaced the open-air holding pens, known as Camp X-Ray, that were used when detainees arrived on the island. An undetermined number of detainees who have cooperated with interrogators will be transferred sometime this month to a fourth prison building, a new minimum-security facility capable of holding as many as 200 inmates. It has large, communal housing bays and common rooms where detainees can gather to play games or socialize, according to Army Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for the joint military task force that runs the prison.

Four detainees have already been released from Guantanamo after authorities determined they posed no future threat, while a fifth was released for health reasons. Eventually, some of the minimum-security detainees may also be released.

The new prison was not built in response to suicide attempts, though it is viewed "as a means to reduce the load for the guard force" at Camps I, II and III, Costello said. Detainees who have attempted to commit suicide most likely will not be transferred to the new facility.

U.S. investigators have not determined any pattern to the suicide attempts at Guantanamo. Guards have intervened to stop inmates who used hand gestures to indicate they might try to kill themselves, or wrapped clothes or bedsheets around their necks, a U.S. official said. Some of the gestures are believed to be manipulative, rather than legitimate suicide attempts, officials said.

Manipulative suicide attempts are common in civilian jails and prisons, according to corrections experts. Inmates sometimes hurt themselves in attempts to trigger reassignments to other jails or to aid legal arguments, such as insanity claims.

A deeper understanding of the Guantanamo suicide attempts is hampered by the prison's secrecy. Military officials won't disclose the detainees' identities or discuss the circumstances of the suicide attempts in detail.

"Merely looking at it from a statistical standpoint is not enough to make a judgment about what's going on," said Lindsay M. Hayes, an expert on jail suicides with the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, an inmates rights group.

Some experts say the conditions at Guantanamo are ripe for legitimate suicide attempts. Of particular concern is the lack of contact with family and lawyers.

"Social support is how we manage to stay sane and healthy," said Karen Franklin, a psychology professor at Alliant International University in San Francisco who has worked in several prisons, including California's San Quentin State Prison. "Uncertainty creates stress. If you know what's going to happen, even if it's bad, you can plan."

The Guantanamo prison has psychologists and psychiatrists who assess inmates, though the military declines to disclose the size of the medical staff. "We take all of these [suicide attempts] seriously," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the joint task force.

Guards have received training about handling suicide attempts, said Navy Lt. Comdr. Barbara Burfeind, a Pentagon spokeswoman. "We're kind of in a new area in terms of working with something we haven't done before," Burfeind said.

No significant staffing changes are planned as a result of the suicide attempts, said U.S. military officials, who declined to discuss whether modifications have been made in interrogation methods.

"The staff on hand is sufficient," a U.S. military official familiar with the prison said. "Nobody is hitting the panic button."