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| Gitmo hunger strike grows |
| 2005-09-14 |
| The number of Guantanamo Bay detainees taking part in a hunger strike has swelled to about a quarter of the prison population over the past month, according to Pentagon officials. Since August 8, the number of detainees refusing food has slowly increased from several dozen to 128, according to the Pentagon. Eighteen prisoners are in medical facilities forcibly receiving nutrition intravenously or through nasal tubes, Pentagon officials said. Last month officials said 89 detainees were refusing to eat and 12 were receiving forced nutrition in the medical facility. Since the prison camp at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, opened in January 2002, there have been numerous hunger strikes by detainees. No prisoner has died from starvation, according to Pentagon officials. "Regulations are the same at Guantanamo as they are in the U.S. prison system, and prisoners will not be allowed to kill themselves by starving themselves," a Pentagon official said. Pentagon officials said the detainees are protesting their continued detention, but past detainee protests have occurred because of perceived treatment of the Quran by prison guards and treatment of the detainees by guards. The previous hunger strike at the prison, known as Camp Delta, was in late July, when 68 detainees stopped eating. All of the detainees started eating again on their own before the August 8 hunger strike, according to Pentagon officials. The Washington Post reported Monday that lawyers for some of the detainees claim their clients are refusing to eat to protest their detention as well as the beatings they allege some detainees are receiving from prison guards. Pentagon officials flatly deny that any of the detainees are beaten, including uncooperative ones. The Defense Department says more than 500 detainees are being held at the detention facility. Most were captured during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan against the al Qaeda terrorist network and its local allies. More than 30 countries are represented. But citizens from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen account for the majority of the detainees, 129, 110 and 107, the two U.S. officials told CNN last month. News of the growing detainee protest came a day after Pentagon officials said Mullah Adbul Salam Zaeef, once the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan and its primary spokesman during the early days of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, was released after an agreement between the Afghan government and the United States. He was flown to Afghanistan from the Cuban base. He had been held at the prison camp since January 2002 after being arrested by Pakistani authorities and turned over to the United States. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #14 Put Randall Robinson in the same cage with these fine gentlemen and take bets to who resorts to cannibalism first. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-09-14 20:12 |
| #13 popcorn please |
| Posted by: Elmunter Whiting6706 2005-09-14 20:02 |
| #12 Didn't care yesterday ... and today ... still don't care. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-09-14 19:12 |
| #11 Even better, have the ACLU sue for them to have the right to starve. I mean, who are we to force our social norms on them. If they want to starve, by all means, I think they have that right. So let's get on the stick ACLU... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-09-14 16:41 |
| #10 So let 'em starve, already. Who the hell cares? The ACLU and their fellow travelers care, you say? OK, put one of them in each "hunger striker"'s cell and tell them they have to stay until they coax the poor fella to eat. Or they get torn limb from limb. Whichever comes first. :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-09-14 16:37 |
| #9 Sounds like they are helping us(US) in our time of need......by cutting the food budget |
| Posted by: Dorf 2005-09-14 13:06 |
| #8 I agree, get the media out of there. Remember hidden cameras showing them eating and stuffing their faces early on in this strike, when they didn't think they were being seen. Lawyers should be limited in some way as well. Aren't there different laws for these prisoners compared to prisoners stateside, use them. |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-09-14 11:09 |
| #7 (snore) |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-09-14 10:17 |
| #6 GITMO HUNGER STRIKE GROWS UNUSUAL NUMBER OF VULTURES SPOTTED FLYING OVER GITMO Any chance these Boyz will carry through like Bobby Sands, et al. did two decades ago? |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-09-14 09:51 |
| #5 "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the hunger strike at Gitmo has ended. Last night we reviewed the evidence in every case, reached the conclusion they were all unlawful combatants, and executed them at dawn. Thank you, and God bless." |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-09-14 07:46 |
| #4 Wrong policy. First, stop any access to these animals by either lawyers or the media. No publicity to feed the LLL rave machine. Second, stop feeding any of them. Let the bastards die and feed the corpses, smeared with pig fat, to the sharks off Gitmo. |
| Posted by: mac 2005-09-14 05:35 |
| #3 Oh and put an uncooked burbon sauce on everything. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-09-14 03:58 |
| #2 Change all entrees to the other white meat and shellfish. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-09-14 03:57 |
| #1 Threaten to play more Celine Dione music if they don't start eating their 4 star lemon flavored chicken. Maybe offer Chocloate Moose as an entree? |
| Posted by: RG 2005-09-14 03:12 |