Family shock over Aids rumour
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED
Published: 21st August 2006
THE FAMILY of Bahraini detainee at Guantanamo Bay Juma Al Dossary said yesterday they were shocked and distressed at false rumours that he has contracted Aids from a contaminated blood transfusion at the prison hospital.
The rumours have already spread among society, and the family are receiving frequent phone calls and personal comments of sympathy, they said.
The speculation amongst the public that Juma is infected with the fatal virus could damage his chances of settling into a normal life and being accepted by society after his release, the Al Dossary family say.
Family shock over Aids rumour
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED
Published: 21st August 2006
THE FAMILY of Bahraini detainee at Guantanamo Bay Juma Al Dossary said yesterday they were shocked and distressed at false rumours that he has contracted Aids from a contaminated blood transfusion at the prison hospital.
The rumours have already spread among society, and the family are receiving frequent phone calls and personal comments of sympathy, they said.
The speculation amongst the public that Juma is infected with the fatal virus could damage his chances of settling into a normal life and being accepted by society after his release, the Al Dossary family say.
“This will ruin his future after he gets out,” Juma’s older brother Khalid said.
“The rumours like this, some people say it might help his case (for release), but I think it hurts him more than it helps him.
“HIV Aids is a very bad, fatal disease and you know we are preparing for him to come home, he might want to get married – and this rumour will ruin his reputation.
“We got so many telephone calls, many people said to me we feel sorry for your brother because he got HIV.
“My mother was scared to death,” he added.
“She was crying so hard because (she thought) her son, after being held for so long in detention at Guantanamo Bay got infected with HIV.
“After I told her (they were not true) she was happy and thanked God – but meanwhile we are still waiting for his release.”
The false rumour about Juma contracting Aids has left the family worried that earlier news about the Bahraini detainees’ imminent release is also simply a rumour, he said.
“Last month a Bahraini diplomat said they would be released in the next few weeks but nothing happened.
“I’m afraid that also might be a rumour.”
Mr Al Dossary was referring to an AFP news story quoting a diplomat as saying the three remaining detainees would be released “soon”, which is still unconfirmed. Bahraini and US officials have not commented on the issue.
The Aids claims were made in a Saudi newspaper on Saturday quoting Katib Al Shimmari, a lawyer for a number of Saudi detainees, as saying that Mr Al Dossary had contracted Aids “mistakenly, or for other reasons” because of a blood transfusion at the camp.
Al Dossary’s lawyer, who returned from a visit to the three Bahrainis being held at the US military prison facility in Cuba on Friday, dismissed the claims.
It is thought they emerged from confusion over earlier pleas from Mr Al Dossary to Bahraini MP Shaikh Adel Al Ma’awda and his New York based lawyer Joshua Colangelo Bryan in which he asks for the Bahrain government to send a medical delegation to visit him at Guantanamo.
In the letter, which is thought to have sparked the Aids claims, Mr Al Dossary says he believes he has developed blood infection as a result of a blood transfusion he received at the camp hospital after attempting to commit suicide by slashing his throat and leg on March 11.
The three Bahraini detainees currently being held at US military prison in Cuba are Mr Al Dossary, 32, Isa Al Murbati, 41, and Salah Al Bloushi, 24, all of whom have been incarcerated without trial for more than four years.
© Gulf Daily News