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Danger of Mass Suicides Among Detainees in Britain

There is a real danger of "mass suicides" among more than 20 foreign terror suspects held in maximum security prisons in Britain awaiting deportation. An Council of Europe investigation found that the mental and physical health of the suspects had deteriorated sharply since their arrest last August. (Guardian)

"The delegation shared its concerns with the UK authorities that serious mental disorders, coupled with the situation in which the detainees found themselves, increased the likelihood of a major crisis, including the possibility of multiple suicide. The delegation's findings suggested that such a scenario was real and should be addressed accordingly."

As we're now used to hearing, the decline in detainees' health was put down to the indefinite length of their detention, the lack of charges leveled, and the prospect of being deported to home countries, like Algeria, where they might be tortured.

Given the other news from Britain today, any bets on whether this report will lead to improved conditions for these detainees (whose guilt or innocence have not been established)?

Posted by Julian Brookes on 08/10/06 at 4:13 PM | E-mail | Print | Digg | de.licio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Yahoo! MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Netscape | Google |