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Home Front: WoT
More Join Guantanamo Hunger Strike
2005-09-13
A month-old hunger strike at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has grown to include at least 128 detainees, 18 of whom are forcibly receiving intravenous fluids or nutrition in the prison hospital, military officials and detainee lawyers said yesterday.

The captives are protesting their indefinite imprisonment and what they describe as beatings administered by the prison's Immediate Response Force (IRF)-- squads of military personnel who are dispatched to put down disturbances in detainees' cells. Some have said they will refuse to eat until the military gives them a fair hearing or they die, according to their attorneys.
Dan, make sure you get them on the calendar for ... 2007.
Military officials first acknowledged the hunger strike, the second of the summer, on Aug. 25. Since then, the number of people hospitalized and in serious physical danger has grown to 18, according to Maj. Jeffrey J. Weir, a Guantanamo Bay spokesman. He said that step was taken to prevent any of the approximately 520 prisoners at the U.S. Navy base prison from engaging in a "form of suicide."

The hunger strike began in the first week of August, and, according to newly declassified accounts of detainees provided by their lawyers, has gradually spread across several camps at the prison. Detainees allege they have been severely beaten and are deeply frustrated at their indefinite detentions. Some have been held for 3 1/2 years without facing charges.

Lawyers for the prisoners assert that more than 200 detainees are refusing food. An earlier hunger strike in June and July ended after military authorities met with a small group of detainees and promised improvements in their living conditions. "They truly feel they have nothing left," said attorney David Remes, who represents several Yemeni detainees. "I'm not sure what the end point will be. But I do predict there will be death."
Yep. Looks like it. Lunch?
Military officials have characterized the protest as a "fast" of prisoners aimed at grabbing attention, and say it involves 128 prisoners. They say its significance is exaggerated by their lawyers. Weir said no detainees are in danger of dying and that the military's treatment is preventing them from losing critical nutrition. Of the 18 people hospitalized, 13 are being force-fed through nasal tubes and five are being given intravenous hydration.

Weir said yesterday that the military does not allow beatings of detainees, and he believes the refusal to eat is part of a campaign to press for their transfer or release. "My understanding is that it's just because of their continued detention," Weir said. "They're trying to call attention to that."

Detainees began a new strike in late June to protest their treatment and the quality of their food and water. They complained about solitary confinement, alleged beatings by IRF teams, and the use of uniform colors to signify how detainees should be treated. Detainees given white uniforms are considered cooperative while those assigned orange uniforms are considered nancy-boys uncooperative and laughed at treated more harshly, detainees said.
Posted by:Steve White

#12  Hmmm ... let me check ... nope, still don't care.
Posted by: DMFD   2005-09-13 18:32  

#11  Oh, and the veal was really dry. The chef should be fired!
Posted by: Xbalanke   2005-09-13 16:56  

#10  My hope is that we will grant at least one of their demands: that we apply the Geneva Convention.

Of course, the GC says we can summarily execute illegal combatants. So, they might want to think twice about that demand.
Posted by: Shinelet Fleter8615   2005-09-13 11:58  

#9  Why gosh, look - they're starving themselves to death. Stupid buggers.

More chick-peas, my dear?...
Posted by: mojo   2005-09-13 10:43  

#8  So like they're on the standard Paleo Authority diet offered in their facilities [or Syria, or Egypt, or etc.] How nice to have that old home style cookin'.
Posted by: Phereque Omineger4095   2005-09-13 09:26  

#7  I think we should let them all go...

From a C-17 at 30k feet.

With nothing but a porkchop to hold on to.
Posted by: AllahHateMe   2005-09-13 08:32  

#6  Any way they can make this mandatory down there?
Posted by: tu3031   2005-09-13 08:24  

#5  Some have been held for 3 1/2 years without facing charges.

They'd have preferred the other legal option -- summary execution.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-09-13 07:43  

#4  Somebody should put sibutramine in their water.

It will make them less hungry and more likely to starve + it will keep them happier.
Posted by: Ulereger Clavigum6227   2005-09-13 07:13  

#3  As everyone assured us during the Terri Schiavo affair, starvation is a peaceful, even euphoric way to go. By all means, let them enjoy their euphoria.
Posted by: Mike   2005-09-13 06:46  

#2  Yep, let them eat pork and kosher bagels, served with Magen David wine.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler   2005-09-13 02:20  

#1  Pork: The Other White Meat.
Posted by: Chris W.   2005-09-13 00:53  

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