William Fisher | And the Oscar Goes To ...

"You can only be bemused by the title of the lady at the US State Department who called the suicides of three prisoners a 'good PR move to draw attention,'" writes William Fisher. "Her name is Colleen Graffy, and her title is Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. That's Public Diplomacy."

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Outcry Over Suicides at Guantanamo

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The deaths and the official commentary on the dead men's motives have inspired broad criticism. The fatalities also brought appeals for independent investigation of the detention process here as well as insistence that the prison be closed.

Religious Leaders Urge US to Ban Torture

DONT YOU THINK IT IS FOUR YEARS TO LATE FOR THIS BIT OF MORALTY. FOUR YEARS OF THE DEATH OF TO MANY INNOCENT LIVES, FOR A LIE

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Twenty-seven religious leaders, including megachurch pastor Rick Warren, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, have signed a statement urging the United States to "abolish torture now - without exceptions."

Father Rejects Son's Gitmo Suicide
By AHMED AL-HAJJ Associated Press Writer

TAIZ, Yemen (AP) -- Mourners packed the home of a Yemeni who died at the American prison in Guantanamo Bay as his family dismissed U.S. claims he committed suicide and accused prison authorities of murdering him.

Men in traditional robes and headdresses sipped black coffee at the home of Ali Abdullah Ahmed, while veiled women draped in black gathered in a separate section, paying their respect to Ahmed's parents in a small farming village on the outskirts of Taiz in the mountains of southern Yemen.

"We are happy despite all that happened, and we are proud that our son is a martyr," insisted Ahmed's father, Mohammed Abdullah al-Aslami, though his face was stiff and gloomy.

His mother broke down in tears several times.

"I am proud, because with his martyrdom he bestowed high esteem to his family," she said.

"You can call me the Mother of the Martyr, or the Mother of the Mujahed (holy warrior)," she told The Associated Press, refusing to give her name. "I want my son. I want his body from America to bury him in the land of Muslims."

The 28-year-old Ahmed was found dead in his cell on Saturday in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was taken soon after his capture in Afghanistan in 2003. Two Saudis were also found dead in separate cells.

The U.S. military said the three committed suicide, using sheets and clothes as nooses, in a form of protest. The deaths have fueled demands in the United States and abroad for the closure of the prison, where detainees captured in the war on terror have been held for years without charge.

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