The official number of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay reached 100 on Saturday [27 Apr 2013] \u2013 three more than the day before. Twenty of the detainees are receiving enteral feeds, five of whom are being observed in a detainee hospital.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for the detainees contest the official numbers, saying that some 130 prisoners are actually taking part in the protest. The hunger strike began around February 6, when detainees claimed prison officials searched their copies of the Koran for contraband, according to their attorneys.<\/p>\n
Prisoners are also protesting their extrajudicial incarceration at the prison. Most of Guantanamo Bay\u2019s 166 detainees have been cleared for release or were never charged, a situation that has prompted criticism from human rights organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe illegal detentions without charge or trial at Guantanamo Bay have gone on for more than a decade with no end in sight, so it\u2019s not surprising that detainees feel desperate,\u201d<\/i> counterterrorism advisor at Human Rights Watch, Laura Pitter, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
As the number of detainees being fed by tubes continues to grow, so does the criticism surrounding the practice of force-feeding. The Constitution Project, a non-profit group that promotes bipartisan consensus on legal reform, concluded in a recent report that<\/p>\n
\u201cforced feeding of detainees is a form of abuse and must end.\u201d<\/i> However, Guantanamo authorities have offered a different assessment:<\/p>\n
\u201cI refuse to say \u2018force-feeding.\u2019 It refers to a cartoon where individuals are strapped, yelling, screaming, mouth open and food is dumped down the person\u2019s throat and that is not the case,\u201d<\/i> Guantanamo spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House said, as quoted by AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to prevent people from starving. It is by all means the rights of detainees to protest, however it is our mission to provide a safe, secure and human environment and we will not allow our detainees to starve themselves to death,\u201d<\/i> House added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pitter has urged the Obama administration to do more to end the<\/p>\n
\u201cunlawful practice that will forever be a black mark on US history.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
White House spokesperson Jay Carney argued that Congress is to blame for the failure to close Guantanamo, not the Obama administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president remains committed to closing the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay,\u201d<\/i> Carney said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fundamental obstacle to closing this detention facility\u2026remains in Congress.”<\/i> President Obama pledged to close Guantanamo as he assumed office in 2009. However, he was unable to act on his promise after Congress imposed restrictions on Gitmo detainee transfers.<\/p>\n
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