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Distressing Content: Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure
Force-feeding — Guantanamo's shame
As President Obama has said, force-feeding detainees held without charge for more than a decade is unacceptable.
July 06, 2013|By Alka Pradhan, Kent Eiler and Katherine Hawkins
The restraint chair used to force-feed detainees on hunger strike is seen at the detainee hospital in Camp Delta, which is part of the U.S. military prison for 'enemy combatants' in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
At least 106 of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay detention center are reported to be on hunger strike, with 45 currently being force-fed.
A recently published report by the Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment, to which we contributed, found that the practice of forced feeding at Guantanamo was "a form of abuse and must end." A member of the task force, Dr. Gerald Thomson, described the process: "You are forced physically to eat, by being strapped into a specially made chair and having restraints put on your arms, your legs, your body and your head so that you cannot move. [You have] a tube inserted into your throat that extends into your stomach, and you're trying to resist that with the only muscles that are free — in your throat." Detainees have said that it is intensely painful.
When the restraint chairs were first introduced to Guantanamo in December 2005, the force-feeding process was reportedly especially punitive. Several detainees said that guards kept them in a restraint chair for hours after the tube feeding ended — sometimes for as long as six hours. The military says that the restraint chairs prevent assaults on U.S. personnel, but a detainee whose condition has deteriorated such that force-feeding is medically necessary to sustain life is unlikely to have the physical ability to commit assault.
At least two detainees were force-fed in the chair twice a day for close to four years. By 2009, the process was less prolonged and brutal, but the restraint chair was still used for every feeding regardless of a detainee's compliance, according to an independent physician who visited Guantanamo and examined detainees. She found that the force-feeding procedure caused physical pain and psychological harm that in one case became full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder.
...
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/06/opinion/la-oe-eiler-gitmo-hunger-strike-20130707
As President Obama has said, force-feeding detainees held without charge for more than a decade is unacceptable.
July 06, 2013|By Alka Pradhan, Kent Eiler and Katherine Hawkins
The restraint chair used to force-feed detainees on hunger strike is seen at the detainee hospital in Camp Delta, which is part of the U.S. military prison for 'enemy combatants' in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
At least 106 of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay detention center are reported to be on hunger strike, with 45 currently being force-fed.
A recently published report by the Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment, to which we contributed, found that the practice of forced feeding at Guantanamo was "a form of abuse and must end." A member of the task force, Dr. Gerald Thomson, described the process: "You are forced physically to eat, by being strapped into a specially made chair and having restraints put on your arms, your legs, your body and your head so that you cannot move. [You have] a tube inserted into your throat that extends into your stomach, and you're trying to resist that with the only muscles that are free — in your throat." Detainees have said that it is intensely painful.
When the restraint chairs were first introduced to Guantanamo in December 2005, the force-feeding process was reportedly especially punitive. Several detainees said that guards kept them in a restraint chair for hours after the tube feeding ended — sometimes for as long as six hours. The military says that the restraint chairs prevent assaults on U.S. personnel, but a detainee whose condition has deteriorated such that force-feeding is medically necessary to sustain life is unlikely to have the physical ability to commit assault.
At least two detainees were force-fed in the chair twice a day for close to four years. By 2009, the process was less prolonged and brutal, but the restraint chair was still used for every feeding regardless of a detainee's compliance, according to an independent physician who visited Guantanamo and examined detainees. She found that the force-feeding procedure caused physical pain and psychological harm that in one case became full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder.
...
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/06/opinion/la-oe-eiler-gitmo-hunger-strike-20130707
Guantánamo hunger strike: US to force-feed detainees during Ramadan
Government says feedings provide 'essential nutritional and medical care' and will not interfere with religious observance
Karen McVeigh in New York
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 July 2013 17.18 EDT
The US government has refused to stop force-feeding detainees on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay during the holy month of Ramadan.
In court papers rejecting a petition by four of more than 100 detainees said to be refusing food, the US said the feedings provided "essential nutritional and medical care" and would not interfere with religious observance of Ramadan, which begins on Monday.
Observant Muslims fast daily from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. Lawyers for President Obama also said that the "public interest lies with maintaining the status quo".
Last month, Obama gave a speech in which he promised to work towards closing the base, and to allow the release of many of the 86 prisoners held there who have been cleared for transfer. He described the camp as a moral problem for the nation that had to be solved.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/guantanamo-bay-hunger-strike-detainees-ramadan
Government says feedings provide 'essential nutritional and medical care' and will not interfere with religious observance
Karen McVeigh in New York
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 July 2013 17.18 EDT
The US government has refused to stop force-feeding detainees on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay during the holy month of Ramadan.
In court papers rejecting a petition by four of more than 100 detainees said to be refusing food, the US said the feedings provided "essential nutritional and medical care" and would not interfere with religious observance of Ramadan, which begins on Monday.
Observant Muslims fast daily from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. Lawyers for President Obama also said that the "public interest lies with maintaining the status quo".
Last month, Obama gave a speech in which he promised to work towards closing the base, and to allow the release of many of the 86 prisoners held there who have been cleared for transfer. He described the camp as a moral problem for the nation that had to be solved.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/guantanamo-bay-hunger-strike-detainees-ramadan
Barack Obama urged to halt Ramadan force-feeding at Guantanamo Bay
Lawyers for four inmates have also filed petitions with the US government to stop this procedure during the religious festival
Islamic community leaders are asking Barack Obama to stop the practice of force-feeding Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay who are on hunger strike during Ramadan.
The religious festival, which began on Monday, is marked by fasting during daylight hours in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR, described the practice of force-feeding as “in violation of international norms and medical ethics.” Speaking to the Guardian, he said: “We believe it's wrong to force-feed at any time but it is particularly upsetting to do it through Ramadan.”
Dr Azzam Tamimi, an Islamic community leader in Britain, said this practice was becoming “increasingly embarrassing for the US government”. He added: “It's about time President Obama took a brave decision to end this in a way that would be appreciated around the Islamic world.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/barack-obama-urged-to-halt-ramadan-forcefeeding-at-guantanamo-bay-8695878.html
Lawyers for four inmates have also filed petitions with the US government to stop this procedure during the religious festival
Islamic community leaders are asking Barack Obama to stop the practice of force-feeding Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay who are on hunger strike during Ramadan.
The religious festival, which began on Monday, is marked by fasting during daylight hours in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR, described the practice of force-feeding as “in violation of international norms and medical ethics.” Speaking to the Guardian, he said: “We believe it's wrong to force-feed at any time but it is particularly upsetting to do it through Ramadan.”
Dr Azzam Tamimi, an Islamic community leader in Britain, said this practice was becoming “increasingly embarrassing for the US government”. He added: “It's about time President Obama took a brave decision to end this in a way that would be appreciated around the Islamic world.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/barack-obama-urged-to-halt-ramadan-forcefeeding-at-guantanamo-bay-8695878.html
It is well beyond time to close Guantánamo.
22 replies
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