By kanwal tariq hameed
Published: 27 September 2006
BAHRAINI Guantanamo Bay detainee Juma Al Dossary holds the US military responsible for denying his father’s dying wish – to be reunited with the son he had not seen for five years.
Juma Al Dossary spoke with his lawyer about the short visit from US military psychiatrists and a “cultural advisor”, during which he was informed of his father’s death.
“Juma told me that he could not describe the feelings he had in words,” said lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan.
“While hearing news about the death of a family member is difficult under any circumstances, it may be impossible to understand how difficult it is to hear such news when one is thousands of miles from home and being held indefinitely.”
By kanwal tariq hameed
Published: 27 September 2006
BAHRAINI Guantanamo Bay detainee Juma Al Dossary holds the US military responsible for denying his father’s dying wish – to be reunited with the son he had not seen for five years.
Juma Al Dossary spoke with his lawyer about the short visit from US military psychiatrists and a “cultural advisor”, during which he was informed of his father’s death.
“Juma told me that he could not describe the feelings he had in words,” said lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan.
“While hearing news about the death of a family member is difficult under any circumstances, it may be impossible to understand how difficult it is to hear such news when one is thousands of miles from home and being held indefinitely.”
Al Dossary, 32, was reportedly informed of the news just over a week
after his father Mohammed Abdullatif Al Dossary died in hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia on May 30, after being admitted complaining of shortness of breath earlier in the day.
He had reportedly been suffering from ill health because of complications following surgery to treat cancer of the larynx and was admitted into intensive care in October last year.
The Al Dossary family sent out a plea for the Bahrain government to secure his son’s release and make their “dying father’s dream” come true, soon after he was admitted to hospital.
However, he was buried by his family in a Dammam cemetery, while his son remained behind bars at the US military base, in Cuba.
“During our last visit, Juma told us about being informed by the military that his father had died,” said Mr Colangelo-Bryan, who met Al Dossary and the other two Bahraini detainees last month.
“Specifically, on June 7, guards took Juma to the recreation area.
“There, two psychiatrists came with Guantanamo’s ‘cultural advisor’. The advisor said that he had bad news.
“He said to Juma: ‘Your father passed away’. “According to the advisor, the military had seen this information on the Internet. “The advisor and the psychiatrists spent only a few minutes with Juma.
“At the end of this visit, Juma told them that the military was responsible for the fact that his father had died without seeing him.
“Guards then took Juma back to his cell. Juma did not eat or drink for two days. He did not talk to anyone. He had to vomit because he was so upset.”
Mr Al Dossary is currently being held in isolation at the prison camp’s mental health unit and reportedly suffers from a variety of health problems, following a suicide attempt in March.
He has tried to kill himself 13 times, according to the US military. The other two Bahrainis being held at Guantanamo Bay are 24-year-old Salah Abdulrasool Al Blooshi, and father of five Isa Abdulla Al Murbati, 41.
© Gulf Daily News