Policy

Ninth Detainee Death at Gitmo

Former hunger striker found unconscious in cell. He had not yet been charged with any crimes.

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A former hunger strike prisoner at Guantánamo Bay has died, the US military said Monday, after the man was apparently found unconscious in his cell at the isolated, high-security prison.

The prisoner, whose name and nationality were not released, was found by guards on Saturday and taken to a base hospital, where he was declared dead "after extensive lifesaving measures had been performed," the US military's southern command said in a brief statement.

He was the ninth prisoner to die at the facility since it was opened in January 2002 to hold men suspected of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban. The military has said two of those deaths were by natural causes and six were declared suicides.