Force Feeding Continues: 2 More Guantanamo Prisoners Join Hunger Strike, Military Says
NONVIOLENCE, ANGLO AMERICA, ACTIVISM, HEALTH, MILITARISM, JUSTICE, 20 May 2013
Carol Rosenberg - The Miami Herald
U.S. military medical providers counted 102 Guantanamo prisoners as hunger strikers on Thursday [16 May 2013], the first increase after three weeks when the number seemed to plateau at 100.
Navy medical workers were tube-feeding 30 of the hunger strikers, said Army Lt. Col. Samuel House. Three were hospitalized, but none had “life-threatening conditions,” he said.
Military officials would not say whether the protest had spread to Camp 7, the building where the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and 14 other so-called high-value detainees who were once held in secret CIA facilities have been locked up since 2006. On May 8, defense lawyers for some of the alleged 9/11 conspirators filed a motion asking the war court judge to forbid the prison staff from force-feeding their clients.
The motion was under seal Thursday, but Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz said by telephone from Dubai that he had invoked the American Medical Association opposition to force-feeding in the motion he filed on behalf of his client, Saudi Mustafa al Hawsawi, one of the five detainees charged in connection with the 9/11 attacks. The AMA and the International Red Cross oppose force-feeding prisoners who are mentally competent to make their own decisions.
Ruiz said Hawsawi, who is accused of funneling money to the 9/11 hijackers, “has been hunger striking on and off, refusing food” for months. Ruiz said Hawsawi’s refusal to eat was intended to protest conditions at Camp 7, notably daily searches of his cell, including the seizure of legal documents.
Ruiz said no one at Guantanamo had indicated whether military medical staff counted his client among the hunger strikers.
The Pentagon lawyer for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed similarly said that he did not know if his client was among the 102. “It depends on the definition of a hunger strike,” Army Capt. Jason Wright said. “Mr. Mohammad has been observing a religious fast for quite some time. To date, we have received no notification that he is being force-fed by medical personnel.”
Mohammed, who could be put to death if convicted, has at times said he welcomed martyrdom. It is Pentagon policy not to let a captive starve to death at Guantanamo Bay, however.
Navy Capt. Robert Durand, the detention center’s public affairs officer, said he was forbidden from commenting “on operations or detainees in Camp 7, other than to say that detainees there are held in a safe and humane manner.”
The current hunger strike began Feb. 6, according to some prisoners’ lawyers, after Army guards conducted an aggressive search of their Qurans at Camp 6, a medium-security lockup that is miles from Camp 7. Military spokesmen say the protest began about a month later and that the holy books were treated with respect.
©2013 The Miami Herald
go to Original – mcclatchydc.com
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Read more
Click here to go to the current weekly digest or pick another article:
NONVIOLENCE:
- US Veterans Fast against Israel’s Starvation of Gaza
- Fasting for Gazans
- Statement for the International Day of Conscientious Objection to Military Service
ANGLO AMERICA:
- Feeding the Warfare State
- Washington Green-Lights $30M for Gaza Aid Scheme Tied to Mass Killings of Palestinians
- War with Iran: We Are Opening Pandora's Box
ACTIVISM:
- Actions in 70 U.S. Cities Say: ‘Hands Off Iran and West Asia! Free Palestine!’
- Resistance Works
- Taking Female Genital Cutting Out of US Shadows Arshi Qureshi
HEALTH:
- U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World
- Autism, Made in the USA
- Big Pharma Is a Big Menace to Global Health
MILITARISM:
- The Transatlantic Split Myth: How U.S.-Europe Militarization Thrives behind the Rhetoric
- Mapping Militarism 2025
- The Limitations of Military Might
JUSTICE: