60 | Towards the Closure of Guantanamo purposely and systematically harass prisoners. In this regard, they claimed that these procedures “include daily cell shakedowns and tossing’s of prisoner’s cells” and that “prisoners are subjected to degrading bodily searches even when no rational basis exists for such procedures.” 124. Since the opening of the detention center, nine prisoners have died in the Guantanamo facility, some of whom reportedly committed suicide. Further, 23 detainees allegedly tried to hang or strangle themselves in a mass protest in 2003. 130 The last prisoner to commit suicide was Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif on September 8, 2012, a Yemeni who was among the first prisoners transferred to Guantanamo in 2002. He was captured at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in December 2001 and, according to the military, had been recruited by Al-Qaeda. His defense counsel claims, however, that he traveled from Yemen to Pakistan to seek charitable medical treatment for problems stemming from a head injury he had suffered in a car accident in 1994, and later made his way to Afghanistan before trying to flee once the war began. 131 125. According to medical records, Mr. Latif’s car accident caused a loss of vision in the left eye and loss of hearing. He also suffered from emotional instability and cognitive impairment as a consequence of the accident. During his internment at Guantanamo he reportedly manifested serious emotional instability and neuropsychiatric symptoms that caused significant management problems for the detention authorities. 132 On May 7, 2010, Amnesty International issued an urgent action on his behalf. Mr. Latif, who had been previously held in solitary confinement in a psychiatric ward at Guantanamo, was reportedly then being held in isolation; was repeatedly ill-treated by the IRF; and felt suicidal. 133 Mr. Latif had been cleared for release by the last two administrations on four different opportunities, and his release had been ordered by a Federal District Court judge in 2010. However, that ruling was overturned by the DC Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. The information received by the IACHR indicates that he killed himself out of desperation. 134 126. According to Dr. Stephen Xenakis, Brigadier General (Retired), psychiatric and medical expert in numerous cases involving detainees at Guantanamo, these 130 131 132 133 134 The New York Times, 23 Detainees Attempted Suicide in Protest at Base, Military Says, January 25, 2005. Available at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E3DC1F38F936A15752C0A9639C8B63&sec=health The New York Times, Military Identifies Guantanamo Detainee Who Died, September 11, 2012. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/us/politics/detainee-who-died-at-guantanamo-had-release-blockedby-court.html?_r=0 Senate Judiciary Committee: Closing Guantanamo: The National Security, Fiscal, and Human Rights Implications, Statement: Stephen N. Xenakis, M.D., Brigadier General (Retired), U.S. Army, July 24, 2013, pp. 5-6. Amnesty International, Urgent Action: Guantanamo detainee held in isolation. May 7, 2010. Available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/037/2010/en/a2f4f943-40c9-45ab-a344a5741f4f3f03/amr510372010en.pdf IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013. Organization of American States | OAS