The Gitmo translator's book has gotten a bunch of attention for its claims of Potemkin interrogations and the dumb sexual tactics of some interrogators. And I heard before about attempted prisoner suicides at the base. But what I didn't know--and what the military has kept hush-hush--is that the attempts seem to be really damn common. Here's a excerpt from the translator's book:
The International Committee of the Red Cross broke its customary public silence in October 2003, pushed to do so, it said, by a spate of suicide attempts. "One cannot keep these detainees in this pattern, this situation, indefinitely," a senior official said. By then, the official number of suicide attempts was 32, though I knew it was actually far higher. The military kept the number low by labeling most attempted suicides as "manipulative self-injurious behavior" or "self-harm" incidents, a practice that became more frequent as time went on. In January 2005, the Pentagon disclosed that 350 "self-harm" incidents had occurred in 2003, including 120 "hanging gestures."
According to CNN, the military has of earlier this year logged all of 34 "suicide attempts" since the base opened. Afterall, what are a few hundred "hanging gestures" among friends. And let's keep in mind, that Gitmo has never held more than about 600 detainees in total.
P.S. That CNN report also mentions the number of "self-injurious incidents" declining recently. That makes sense given that detainees have reason for hope now since many others have been sent home. What it doesn't mean is that the problem has gone away or that the U.S. doesn't have some obligation to be honest about the numbers, whatever they are.
