RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 15 (UPI) -- The Families of Saudi prisoners at the U.S. base in Guanatanamo, Cuba, are planning to play up the case of three inmates who allegedly committed suicide.
The lawyer of the families said he will raise the incidents, which sparked anger and skepticism among Saudis at an international meeting in Beirut.
Fahed Shumari said Thursday he will ask for an independent probe into the death of the three prisoners, two Saudis and a Yemeni, at the three-day conference of the Council of the International Criminal Union which will convene in the Lebanese capital Friday.
Shumari said he will call for an official condemnation of the "illegitimate violations taking place against the prisoners in Guantanamo and will ask for setting up an independent probe to investigate the circumstances of the death of the three prisoners who passed away in mysterious conditions.
"We have been angered lately by the case of the three prisoners in Guantanamo which the U.S. authorities claimed have committed suicide... but we doubt the American story for many security considerations, the least of all are the strict measures applied inside the prison in addition to personal, religious and social factors pertaining to the inmates," Shumari said.
Under Islamic law, suicide is banned and considered to be an unreligious act.
The Saudi interior ministry said last week that it was informed by U.S. authorities of the deaths of the two Saudi nationals and started contacts to secure the repatriation of the bodies.
The ministry said it was informed that prison guards found the inmates unconscious inside their cells and that medical teams tried to reanimate them with no success.
