Notes on the Guantanamo suicides

Three prisoners at Guantanamo hanged themselves yesterday. As I was reading the coverage, I came across a few odd bits.

20% of the detainees in Guantanamo are Saudi, even though they're not on the terror lists. Is the number that high because the US is afraid to repatriate them and have them released by the Saudi government?

He said there were up to 103 Saudis detained at the naval base, which holds about 460 foreigners captured mainly in Afghanistan where the United States has fought the Taliban and al Qaeda.

And this bizarre quote from Rear Adm Harry Harris.

The camp commander said the two Saudis and a Yemeni were "committed" and had killed themselves in "an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us".

And, from Talkleft,

From now on, detainees will have sheets issued to them when they go to bed at night, and they will be removed in the morning. How does this prevent them from hanging themselves after lights-out? This is a band-aid, like putting a piece of tape over a hole in a flat tire, not a solution.