Document - États-Unis / Yémen. Préoccupations pour la santé / Détention sans jugement. Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif
PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 51/073/2009
10 June 2009
Further Information on 125/09 (AMR 51/066/2009, 13 May 2009) Health concern/detention without trial
USA/YEMEN Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, Yemeni national
Fears for Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif's safety and well being have been heightened following the alleged suicide of 31-year-old Yemeni national Mohammed Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al-Hanashi in Guantánamo on 1 June.
Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif has attempted suicide several times since September 2008, most recently on 10 May when he cut one of his wrists during a meeting with his lawyer. He has been held at Guantánamo without charge for more than seven years. He has severe psychological problems, suffers from a number of physical problems and is currently being force-fed up to three times a day due to pain in his stomach and throat.
US authorities have announced that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has initiated an investigation to determine the cause and manner of the death of Mohammed al-Hanashi. His body has been returned to his family in Yemen.
Amnesty International remains seriously concerned for the physical and psychological health of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mohammed al-Hanashi is reported to have committed suicide in Guantánamo’s psychiatric ward, where Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif has been held in solitary confinement since at least November 2008. At least one other detainee is reported to have attempted suicide whilst being held in the same ward in the past few months. There are believed to be six men currently held in the psychiatric ward.
The results of a review of conditions at Guantánamo which had been ordered by President Barack Obama were made public in February 2009. The review contained some welcome recommendations, including increased communal activities, educational and recreational programs, and recommendations to seek ways to provide better access to the outside world through telephone calls and family visits. The extent to which these recommendations have been implemented has not yet been seen.
The recommended improvements may not apply to all detainees and that those deemed to be “non-compliant” can continue to be held in 22-hour per day confinement in individual cells with no window to the outside. Amnesty International has welcomed a number of positive recommendations in the review, including that which recommended the US government “consider inviting non-governmental organizations and appropriate international organizations to send representatives to Guantánamo”. Such an invitation would only be meaningful if representatives were able to speak with detainees in private as well as view all parts of the facility, including the psychiatric ward.
The death of Mohammed Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al-Hanashi brings to five the number of detainees reported to have killed themselves in Guantánamo. The other deaths were of two Saudi Arabian nationals and one Yemeni national in June 2006 and another Saudi Arabian national in May 2007.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
To US authorities:
- expressing concern for Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif following the reported suicide of Mohammed al-Hanashi and for the physical and psychological health of others held in Guantánamo’s psychiatric ward;
- calling for Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif to be given access to independent medical health experts and for his conditions of detention to be improved, particularly an end to his isolation;
- calling on the US government to give Amnesty International and United Nations experts immediate and unrestricted access to visit the detainees held at Guantánamo, including those in the psychiatric ward.
To the Yemeni authorities;
- calling on the authorities to make immediate representations to US authorities on behalf of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif requesting that he be returned to Yemen without delay if he is not to be fairly tried.
APPEALS TO:
President Barack Obama
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20500, USA
Email: president@whitehouse.gov
Fax: + 1 202 456 2461
Salutation: Dear Mr President
Attorney General Eric Holder,
US Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20530-0001, USA
Fax: +1 202 307 6777
Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
Salutation: Dear Attorney General
President
His Excellency General ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a
Republic of Yemen
Fax: + 967 127 4147
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
diplomatic representatives of USA/Yemen accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 22 July.