picture from google
At least 18 inmates continue
to refuse food; advocates declare injustice, torture, unlawful
detention remain
http://www.mintpressnews.com/prisoners-abandoned-gitmo-hell-struggle/169660/
While both military officials at Guantanamo Bay and lawyers for
prisoners say that the numbers of actively participating hunger
strikers at the offshore prison have decreased to the point where the
hunger-strike is no longer considered prison-wide, at least 18 inmates
continue to refuse food—meaning the hunger strike is not over—and
conditions for those facing indefinite detention remain dire.
The U.S. military announced Monday it will no longer provide daily
updates on the ongoing Guantanamo Bay hunger strikes, citing a drop in
numbers. “Following July 10, 2013, the number of hunger strikers has
dropped significantly, and we believe today’s numbers represent those
who wish to continue to strike,” Lt. Col. Samuel E. House, a military
spokesman in Guantanamo, wrote in
an email to reporters.
Shayana Kadidal, senior managing attorney of the Guantánamo Global
Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights, told Common
Dreams that the number of strikers does appear to be decreasing,
yet the count the military provides should always be viewed with
caution, because the military “doctors them down.” Al Jazeera reports that
several inmates remain on long-term hunger strike since 2007, and 18
inmates are
still on a force-feeding list, suggesting many continue to refuse
food in protest.
While the prison-wide hunger strike is growing smaller, the “reasons
for it are not,” said Kadidal, noting that several individuals have
decided to continue their strikes regardless of the dwindling
prison-wide strikes. “From a year into the Obama administration, people
realized that the president abandoned any commitment to making changes
at Guantanamo,” he declared, noting there is no indication of any
meaningful changes of White House policy to come.
“The hunger strikes re-focused the entire country, media, and even the president on the plight of these guys, a majority of whom are cleared for release yet have faced 11-plus years of detention.” –Shayana Kadidal, CCR
Kadidal said many of his clients felt they had accomplished their
primary goal of simply being heard. “The hunger strikes re-focused the
entire country, media, and even the president on the plight of these
guys, a majority of whom are cleared for release yet have faced 11-plus
years of detention,” he said.
Yet, harsh retaliatory measures, in which prison authorities made
the hunger strikers’ lives “hell,” also played a key role in dwindling
the number of strikers, Kadidal explained. “[Prison authorities] moved
people to solitary confinement, force-fed people, imposed genital
searches for people simply going into a phone booth to call their
attorneys. They used the hunger strike to impose these measures and
made it difficult for these men to engage in a relationship with their
attorneys.”
Prison-wide hunger strikes that began in February have been ongoing
throughout the year, with over 100
participants refusing to eat for extended periods and many
undergoing the painful process of being force-fed. Over 150 people are
still incarcerated at the military prison in Cuba that has been widely
condemned for inhumane conditions, systematic use of torture, and
absence of due process for inmates, including long-term indefinite
detentions without trial or formal charges. Half of all
inmates have already been cleared for release.
“[H]unger striking is the sole peaceful means that I have to protest
my indefinite detention,” detainee Ahmed Belbacha previously stated.
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