SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Two detainees who took overdoses of an anti-anxiety medication they hoarded at Guantanamo Bay prison are recovering, a U.S. military official said Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT click here "Both are speaking, moving their extremities," U.S. Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand said during a phone interview from the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba.
The men, who Durand said were not among the 10 detainees at Guantanamo Bay who have been charged with crimes, were found unconscious in separate cells on the same day prisoners wielding makeshift weapons fought with guards in one of the most serious clashes ever reported at the detention center.
The first man was discovered unconscious in his single-occupancy cell Thursday after he failed to show up for morning prayers and the other was found hours later as the guards searched the prison for contraband prescription medicine, U.S. military officials said.
Durand said that neither of the men was prescribed anti-anxiety medication.
When asked about the Thursday clash, which military officials described as a coordinated attack by 10 men, Durand said that guards "managed to get the situation under control with minimal injuries" after they were lured into a medium security, communal-living unit by a "staged" suicide attempt.
The incident left six prisoners wounded and the commanding officer of the facility told reporters that the attack was evidence of the "dangerous nature" of the detainees.
Guantanamo officials said there have been 41 suicide attempts by 25 detainees and no deaths since the U.S. began taking prisoners to the base in January 2002. Defense lawyers contend the number of suicide attempts is higher.
