Vol. 77/No. 41      November 18, 2013

The most recent hunger strike by inmates at the Guantánamo prison camp against indefinite detention and abusive treatment began in February. Nearly two-thirds of the 164 inmates currently being incarcerated were involved at its height in July, with 46 being force-fed, according to U.S. military reports. As of Oct. 24, there were 14 still refusing food, all of whom were being force-fed.

The Barack Obama administration contends that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction at military prisons like Guantánamo. In previous court rulings judges have upheld this position.

But at hearing on the latest challenge Oct. 18, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., questioned the administration’s position that force-feeding and other practices in U.S. military prisons are outside the court’s jurisdiction. The judges have not yet issued a ruling.

The suit was filed by the U.K. legal aid group Reprieve and Jon Eisenberg on behalf of three Guantánamo inmates currently being force-fed — British resident Shaker Aamer; Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a Syrian; and Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian. The three are among 84 prisoners who were “cleared for release” by the Obama administration in January 2010, but remain in Guantánamo because neither the U.S. government nor their home country will allow them in.

“Force-feeding is an extremely painful process,” Andy Worthington, a British journalist who writes extensively about Guantánamo, said in an Oct. 25 phone interview. “A tube is forced up his nose, down his esophagus and through to his stomach twice a day while being held in a restraint chair. Nutrients are pumped in and if he vomits, the whole process happens again.” The practice is prohibited by the World Medical Association, an organization of physicians from 27 countries established after World War II to promote ethical standards of behavior and care.

In another development, an attorney representing a Guantánamo inmate on trial before a secret tribunal of Pentagon-appointed officers claimed that U.S. military guards seized private documents marked “attorney-client privilege” from his cell, reported Reuters. The allegation was made by Navy Lieutenant Commander Walter Ruiz. He represents Saudi defendant Mustafa al Hawsawi, who is accused by Washington of wiring money to the Sept. 11 airplane hijackers.

Out of a total of 779 persons who have been incarcerated at the Guantánamo prison camp over the past 11 years, only seven have been convicted of any crime.
 
 
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