Suicides Widen Gitmo Debate

Religious Leaders, AMA Weigh In; State Dept. Disavows 'P.R.' Remark

(CBS/AP)  Amnesty International said Graffy's comment "shows a chilling disregard for human life" and said it is "deeply concerned" by Harris' remark.

"The commander's statement is entirely inappropriate and is part of a pattern of official commentary on the presumed guilt of detainees who have never had an opportunity to challenge their detentions in a court of law," said Rob Freer, an Amnesty analyst.

The group said military authorities "have shown themselves to be oblivious to the psychological suffering of the detainees" and called for an independent, civilian investigation into the deaths.

It also urged America to give U.N. experts unrestricted access to Guantanamo and let them talk privately with detainees.

The International Red Cross said it hopes to visit the camp soon because of the suicides.

The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights said it is shocked by the American officials' statements.

"These comments are shameful and revolting," said Sidiki Kaba, the federation's president, adding that the men must have been in deep despair to commit suicide, which is forbidden by Islam. "This official discourse, in the very least absurd, is a testament to the awkward position of American authorities, who are more and more isolated at the international level."

Britain's conservative Daily Mail newspaper said the officials had spoken "with utter insensitivity to world opinion" in an editorial headlined: "From the high moral ground to the gutter."

Spain's El Mundo newspaper called the comments "gruesome."

The Irish Independent newspaper criticized the detentions, but at the same time also said the suicides are "certainly... a propaganda coup."

Rene van der Linden, president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, said the detainees' deaths "show once again the terrible damage that is done by unlawful detention in this center, which exists to sidestep normal American justice."

"The circumstances surrounding these sad deaths must be fully investigated, but no investigation can put right the most serious injustice they have suffered," he said. "If these men had committed a crime, they should have been charged and tried. Otherwise... they should have been released."

In New York, a group of prominent religious leaders and other concerned Americans took out a full page ad in Tuesday's New York Times, saying "nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation... Let America abolish torture now - without exceptions."

Among the statement's signers are Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Rev. Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life"; and retiring Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Organizers say former President Jimmy Carter has also signed onto the ad, along with several Jewish, Muslim and black leaders.

Another group whose voice is being heard – although the words "Guantanamo Bay" are not specifically mentioned - is the American Medical Association.

The AMA has issued new guidelines sharply limiting the involvement of doctors in prisoner interrogations and reminding physicians that while engaging in any activity relying on their medical knowledge, they are still obligated to uphold medical ethics.

The new policy adopted by delegates at the AMA's annual meeting states that "physicians in all circumstances must never be involved in activities that are physically or mentally coercive. If physicians engage in such activities, the whole profession is tainted."

The AMA says doctors "must not conduct, directly participate in, or monitor an interrogation with an intent to intervene, because this undermines the physician’s role as healer."

A loophole appears to remain in the statement, whose purpose the AMA says is to assist physicians in the military who encounter such issues.

"Because it is justifiable for physicians to serve in roles that serve the public interest," says the doctors' group, "the AMA policy permits physicians to develop general interrogation strategies that are not coercive, but are humane and respect the rights of individuals."