By Kanwal TARIQ Hameed
Published: 3rd September 2006
A BAHRAINI detainee has been locked up in a freezing cold cell at the Guantanamo Bay mental health unit with only a blanket, mattress and Quran following the deaths of three inmates on June 10, he told his lawyer. He claimed this was a result of increased repression by guards at the military base, in Cuba.
Since last month, Juma Al Dossary, aged 32, has been allowed a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap in his cell.
However, he continues to be held in largely isolated conditions and is only allowed to have letters from relatives or lawyers for two hours a day.
By Kanwal TARIQ Hameed
Published: 3rd September 2006
A BAHRAINI detainee has been locked up in a freezing cold cell at the Guantanamo Bay mental health unit with only a blanket, mattress and Quran following the deaths of three inmates on June 10, he told his lawyer. He claimed this was a result of increased repression by guards at the military base, in Cuba.
Since last month, Juma Al Dossary, aged 32, has been allowed a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap in his cell.
However, he continues to be held in largely isolated conditions and is only allowed to have letters from relatives or lawyers for two hours a day.
He has been held at the prison without charge for almost five years after being captured in Pakistan in December 2001.
Guantanamo Bay psychiatrists only agreed for Al Dossary to be moved into a cell with a toilet inside after repeated requests, he told his New York-based lawyer who visited Guantanamo Bay last month.
Previously, Mr Al Dossary had to request permission every time he needed to use the toilet and was searched by military personnel before and after using it, according to declassified notes released by his lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan.
Mr Al Dossary, who has tried to kill himself 13 times according to the US military, also said he had seen other inmates at the mental health unit crying and that detainees could not withstand the living conditions in captivity.
“During our August visit to Guantanamo, we saw our clients Juma Al Dossary, Isa Al Murbati and Salah Al Blooshi,” Mr Colangelo-Bryan said.
“The military continues to hold Juma in the mental health unit where he is largely isolated from sane detainees.
“He reported that the pressure on the detainees has been even greater than usual since the deaths of the detainees in June.
“Following the June deaths, Juma was permitted to have only a suicide blanket, mattress and Quran.
“As of early August, the military also permitted him to keep a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap in his cell.
“He is allowed to have letters from his attorneys or letters from his family for two hours a day.”
Al Dossary described his living conditions as being like “in a hole in a mountain of snow and ice,” Mr Colangelo-Bryan added.
“The lights are always off outside of Juma’s cell and at night are turned off inside his cell,” added the lawyer.
“The air-conditioning is always turned on very high.
“Juma said that being in this dark and cold environment is like living ‘in a hole in a mountain of snow and ice’.
“Cold” treatment is reportedly one of the sanctioned coercion techniques practised by military police at the camp.
However, interrogation logs have shown that the procedure led to one detainee’s heart rate slowing down until he nearly died.
Conditions also make it impossible for Al Dossary to know when to pray without finding out the time from prison guards, said his lawyer.
“Because the lights are turned off outside his cell, Juma cannot see a clock that is in the corridor and therefore does not know when to pray unless a guard tells him the time,” revealed Mr Colangelo-Bryan.
Mr Al Dossary underwent several searches a day while suffering from stomach problems, he also told his lawyer.
“Juma had been held in a cell that did not have a bathroom,” said Mr Colangelo-Bryan.
“Any time that he needed to use the bathroom he had to request permission and he was searched before and after using the bathroom.
“When he experienced stomach difficulties, this meant that he had to request permission and undergo searches several times each day.
“He asked repeatedly to be moved to a cell with a bathroom to avoid these indignities.
“After ignoring his requests for some time, military psychiatrists agreed to the move.
“Juma said that people simply cannot withstand the conditions under which they are living,” added his lawyer.
“He reported that he has seen detainees in the mental health unit crying.”
Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi and Isa Al Murbati the two other Bahrainis being held at Guantanamo Bay, which now hosts around 450 inmates.
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