Hunger strike at Guantanamo spreads

[Thanas]

Washington Post

A hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has spread over the past two weeks, with the U.S. military saying the number of detainees participating in the protest has more than doubled and attorneys for the men insisting that the number is far higher.

The Pentagon said Monday that 39 men are consistently refusing food. Of those, 11 are being force fed — a process that can involve strapping the detainee down and passing a liquid nutritional supplement through a tube that is run from the nose into the stomach. Attorneys for the detainees, who visit the military detention center or speak to their clients by phone, said nearly the entire population of Camp 6 — where detainees can use common areas — is on hunger strike. Until recently, 130 detainees were kept in Camp 6, but it’s unclear how many remain. The lawyers said some of the protesters have been moved to the adjacent Camp 5 complex, which has been used to hold “non-compliant” detainees in greater isolation.

The military refuses to give specific numbers for the population of each camp. There are 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Detainees have covered the cameras inside Camp 6, making it difficult for the guard force to monitor conditions and raising fears that the condition of some detainees could deteriorate unnoticed, according to the miliary and lawyers.

Attorneys for the detainees said the immediate catalyst for the protest, which began in early February, was a decision by the camp authorities to search the detainees’ Korans. The military acknowledges that Korans were searched for contraband, but said they were handled only by interpreters, most of whom are Muslim, not the guard force.

David Remes, a lawyer for some of the detainees, said that most of the hunger strikers would resume eating if the military agreed not to search Korans — as it had not done before February for a number of years. But he added that a number of men want to expand the strike to protest their indefinite detention and what they consider the Obama administration’s abandonment of its plans to close the facility.

“These men, including many of my clients, say they are determined to leave Guantanamo one way or the other — alive or . . . in a box,” Remes said.

In a statement Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said 13 delegates, including a medical doctor, are visiting the camps. “It is the opinion of the ICRC that past and current tensions at Guantanamo, including hunger strikes, are the direct result of the uncertainty faced by detainees,” said Simon Schorno, a spokesman for the organization.

The ICRC does not report publicly on the conditions it finds at the camps or provide information on how many detainees it thinks are on hunger strike.

Remes said only two of the detainees would meet with the ICRC because, he said, the international organization’s presence helps the U.S. military legitimize its operations.

Separately Monday, Human Rights Watch called on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to allow the New York-based group “full access to Guantanamo Bay detention camps so that we can independently review and report on the conditions of confinement.”

The group also noted that President Obama issued an executive order more than two years ago on the creation within one year of a periodic review board to allow detainees to challenge their detention with the help of counsel. Despite the order, the review process has not started, adding to detainees’ frustration, lawyers said.

Hey Obama. How long have you been in office now?

[Gandalf]

Has Obama ever explained why he didn't close Gitmo, or is this something he's hoping might go away if it isn't addressed?

[Broomstick]

Nope, never a clear explanation. I suspect, but cannot prove, that after he was elected (crowing all the while about closing Gitmo) someone in the military/CIA/whatever pulled him aside and somehow convinced him not to do it. Why? Damifino. No way to evaluate such a reason as we haven't a clue what might have been said. Since then he's simply remained silent on the issue and yes, I think he's hoping it goes away.

This makes me doubt that a change in administration in 2016 will make any difference, either.

Yes, I agree it's entirely unacceptable that these men have essentially been forgotten and left to languish in prison without formal accusation much less trial. Short of strong-arming the US into closing the place (unlikely) I don't see that changing for quite awhile though I would be delighted to be proven wrong on this.

[Gandalf]

So those guys have to basically sit there and die of old age because the US can't be arsed to take responsibility for its actions?

[Grumman]

Has Obama ever explained why he didn't close Gitmo, or is this something he's hoping might go away if it isn't addressed?

IIRC, Congress nixed the idea when they realised that Obama just wanted to relocate Gitmo to the continental US, indefinite detention without trial intact.

[Simon_Jester]

While Obama does not deserve credit, that would actually be progress because it would more explicitly bring Guantanamo under the jurisdiction of US courts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but part of the reason Bush established Guantanamo in the first place is that the place is in a different type legal jurisdiction than, say, Leavenworth.

Personally I really wish I knew what induced Obama to not just close the place properly and hold trials. Either because it would confirm my suspicion that Obama is utterly indifferent to civil rights when it's not convenient for him to care, or because it indicates some very embarrassing and dirty secrets that the public really ought to know.

[Terralthra]

Uh, Obama didn't close Guantanamo Bay detention center because Congress made it illegal. The 2011 Defense Authorization Act contains portions making it illegal to spend any money housing prisoners in the US who were previously detained in Guantanamo Bay, and requiring Congressional approval for any transfer of those prisoners either within the country or to a foreign nation, and making it illegal to use any money doing either without explicit approval from the House of Representatives (which they made it very clear they wouldn't give, no matter what).

Obama said he wanted to close Guantanamo Bay during the election in 2008, and was trying to do so within 2 years (he missed his own 1-year deadline). Congress stopped him, by repeatedly legislating against any effort to do so.

You may now return to your scheduled Obama-bashing amnesia-fest.

[Highlord Laan]

Has Obama ever explained why he didn't close Gitmo, or is this something he's hoping might go away if it isn't addressed?

IIRC, Congress nixed the idea when they realised that Obama just wanted to relocate Gitmo to the continental US, indefinite detention without trial intact.

Which isn't allowed, and would demand they either get their speedy trial or be released with a sizable restitution, given the public shitstorm that is generally ignored by the media and our dear imperious leaders. Bet your ass Congress nixed the idea. How can all the bullshit fearmongering, power grabs and congressional fuckery continue if the US actually followed it's own laws?

Uh, Obama didn't close Guantanamo Bay detention center because Congress made it illegal. The 2011 Defense Authorization Act contains portions making it illegal to spend any money housing prisoners in the US who were previously detained in Guantanamo Bay, and requiring Congressional approval for any transfer of those prisoners either within the country or to a foreign nation, and making it illegal to use any money doing either without explicit approval from the House of Representatives (which they made it very clear they wouldn't give, no matter what).

Obama said he wanted to close Guantanamo Bay during the election in 2008, and was trying to do so within 2 years (he missed his own 1-year deadline). Congress stopped him, by repeatedly legislating against any effort to do so.

You may now return to your scheduled Obama-bashing amnesia-fest.

Yup. Because of this, I personally hope that on Obama's last day in office, in the last hour and announced as he walks out the door, he uses his Presidential Pardon on the Gitmo detaineees and orders them returned home. After all thats been done, yes there would be consequences, and we as a people deserve them.

Bonus being all the tears, shrieking, cursing and hair pulling from the right wing would be absolutely hilarious.

[Stark]

It's a bit sad that the legal fiction of its placement in land stolen from another country actually makes it more acceptable. I'm not sure if I believe Obama wanted to move it to the US; he'd know that it's already done more quietly in the US and that without the legal fiction it'd be even more unpopular.

[Flagg]

Uh, Obama didn't close Guantanamo Bay detention center because Congress made it illegal. The 2011 Defense Authorization Act contains portions making it illegal to spend any money housing prisoners in the US who were previously detained in Guantanamo Bay, and requiring Congressional approval for any transfer of those prisoners either within the country or to a foreign nation, and making it illegal to use any money doing either without explicit approval from the House of Representatives (which they made it very clear they wouldn't give, no matter what).

Obama said he wanted to close Guantanamo Bay during the election in 2008, and was trying to do so within 2 years (he missed his own 1-year deadline). Congress stopped him, by repeatedly legislating against any effort to do so.

You may now return to your scheduled Obama-bashing amnesia-fest.

In fact his first executive order was to close Guantanamo.

[Gandalf]

Can a subsequent House vote simply reverse that?

[Terralthra]

Reverse which, an executive order? No, but they can make it impossible to execute by denying funds.

Reverse the 2011 DAA? Not just a house vote, but they could repeal said sections as amendments to pretty much any bill passed by both houses and signed by the President.