Twenty-three Detainees at the U.S. military prison on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba attempted to harm themselves or kill themselves in what one U.S. official called a coordinated effort. The attempts all took place between August 18 and August 26, 2003.

One military official described the attempts as a 'coordinated effort to disrupt camp operations.'

The military differentiates between suicide attempts and attempts at harming one's self. An official suicide attempt is defined as a case in which the prisoner could have died had a guard not stepped in. An attempt at self-injury are acts designed to get attention but are not potentially fatal.

The number of attempts has gone down since detainees were given access to a psychiatric ward. There were 350 self-injury attempts made in 2003 but only 110 in 2004. Since the camp opened in 2002, there have been 34 acts classified as suicide attempts.

Alistair Hodgett, a spokesman for Amnesty International, told the Associated Press, 'When you have suicide attempts or so-called self-harm incidents, it shows the type of impact indefinite detention can have.' Hodgett also indicated that the delay in releasing the report 'also points to the extreme measures the Pentagon is taking to cover up things that have happened in Guantanamo.'

Approximately 550 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay. Most of them have not been charged with any specific crime.