§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many suicide attempts there have been by prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba); and whether they are asking the United States authorities to improve conditions for all prisoners, in particular by giving them a minimum of one-hour exercise per day. [HL4655]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The British Government do not hold detailed information on non-British detainees at Guantanamo Bay. We understand, however, that 31 suicide attempts have been made at Guantanamo Bay, none of which has involved British detainees.
We believe that the detainees should be treated humanely. We have raised the question of exercise with the US Government on a number of occasions. One of the main objectives of visits by British officials to Guantanamo Bay is to check on the British 132WA detainees’ welfare. The last visit in early September suggested that access to exercise had increased to a norm of 30 minutes a day.