Most Gitmo Prisoners at Psychological Risk, Report Says
Held under conditions even more stringent than those in “supermax” prisons in the U.S., many detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba are at least at risk of psychological breakdown, a human rights group reports.
Of 270 prisoners at Gitmo, 185 are held in solitary confinement for 22 hours daily and are generally not allowed to interact with other prisoners during the remaining two hours, Human Rights Watch says in a report titled Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo. They also are not allowed family visits and most are not permitted to talk on the telephone with their families, reports Reuters.
A number of those being held in this manner have not been criminally charged or have been scheduled for release, according to the article.
“Both U.S. presidential candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, have pledged to close the prison, which has been denounced by human rights groups and foreign governments for years.,” the article states.
