March 21, 2013

The Guantanamo prisoners' hunger strike shows their frustration with the US government's failure to shut down the facility, a top general has told Congress. The US media has finally turned its attention to the strike as it enters its 44th day.

“They had great optimism that Guantanamo would be closed. They were devastated apparently ... when the president backed off, at least [that's] their perception, of closing the facility," Marine Corps General John Kelly said in a speech at the House Armed Services Committee in Washington.

General Kelly heads the US military’s Southern Command for the Latin America region in Miami, which also has a mission to oversee the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba.

Speaking to Congress members, he denied allegations the hunger strike was a reaction to the mishandling of the Koran, saying that any claims of desecration are “nonsense”.

"No way has the Koran in any way, shape or form been in any way abused or mistreated," Kelly said, adding that while it is known that non-believers are allowed to touch the book, the only personnel who had been doing so at Guantanamo were Muslim translators.

Speaking later to reporters at a media briefing in the Pentagon, General John Kell, said that the Guantanamo prisoners are on a ‘light’ hunger strike, because they are ‘eating a bit’.

Since the prisoners of Camp Delta detainment facility eat communally, it is impossible to establish how many prisoners have rejected to eat nine consecutive times, which is the definition of hunger strike in the detention center, the general said.

"Generally speaking, we think about 24 of them are on, say, hunger strike light, where they're eating a bit but not a lot, but they've declared that they're not eating," General Kelly claimed.

The attorneys representing the Gitmo inmates have continuously insisted the situation at the prison is much graver than the military officials are ready to admit. 

RT has spoken to David Remes, a lawyer for several Yemeni detainees who were cleared for repatriation years ago, but remain imprisoned in Gitmo.

“I was there two weeks ago. I met with six clients from Camp 6, which is where the hunger strike is taking place. All of them are on the hunger strike. They were visibly shrunk and lost a substantial amount of weight,” Remes said.

All Guantanamo inmates want is clear knowledge of what’s going to happen to them next, says  Stephen Soldz, clinical psychologist, who was a consultant when previous hunger strikes happened at Guantanamo prison.

“Those men would tell their attorneys, ‘I don’t want to talk with you. What's the point of talking with you? I only want to know the date I’m going out of here.’ But there is no date. People can't accept being completely powerless and hopeless,” Soldz told RT.

Americans tend to see the Gitmo inmates as terrorists, not humans, believes RT correspondent Margaret Howell. She says what attorneys are trying to do is they are trying to put human face on their clients, by telling their stories.

“[There’s] a Pakistani businessman, who actually lived in the United States in the seventies and eighties, owned a television station in New Jersey. This man was lured to Thailand by the CIA and captured in Bangkok and then shipped to Guantanamo Bay. This man is the oldest man in the prison. He is 65 years old. His wife is clearly mentally unstable at this point... Speaking to his attorney he wants to know what's going to happen. At this point he feels like living in a live grave," says Howell. 

Public protest and media reaction

That same day, a group of activists held a rally in front of the White House, calling for closure of Guantanamo and trying to raise awareness of the hunger strike, for it to get more media coverage in the US. Some of the protesters were dressed in orange outfits with black bags over their heads.

The officially-acknowledged number of Gitmo detainees on hunger strike has reached 25 people, according to the US Defense Department. Eight of them are being force-fed, which means they are administered food in the form of a nutritional supplement through a hose snaked into their nose while they are restrained in a chair.

The Pentagon’s acknowledgement of the growing number of Gitmo detainees on hunger strike led to US media finally paying attention to the crisis. CNN mentioned the strike in a brief note for the first time since the protest began six weeks ago. And the news is spreading with mentions in around 60 more US media outlets.

http://rt.com/news/gitmo-hunger-strike-frustration-580/

Gitmo hunger strike: Timeline

A mass hunger strike has been unfolding in the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison for nearly six weeks. RT has been badgering the UN, prison officials, detainees’ attorneys and activists to get a full account of the situation.

March 21

During a conversation with RT Dr. Terry Kupers, a California psychologist and author of Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It, tried to answer some of the same questions that have boggled Guantanamo Bay critics since the prison opened in early 2002. While a hunger strike may initially seem illogical, Kupers praised the inmates for exerting one of the few actions within their capabilities in trying to attract international attention. He also pointed to another less-discussed result of long period of time behind bars: prisoners read up on their rights, learning the legal ramifications of their dire situation.

Among the many prisoners of Camp Delta’s detention facility at Guantanamo Bay one British citizen remains, despite being cleared for release over five years ago. A national of a key US ally, RT recently sought an explanation from the UK government. 

Shaker Aamer, the 44-year-old British resident, has been incarcerated at Guantanamo for 11 years without any charges ever brought against him.

A father of four, Saudi national Aamer is the last British citizen remaining in Guantanamo Bay prison, despite being cleared for release as early as 2007.

In his letters, prisoner Shaker Aamer appeals in desperation to his captors and the outside world:

"Please … torture me in the old way. Here they destroy people mentally and physically without leaving marks."

Shaker Aamer (Image from andyworthington.co.uk)

Following the developments of the hunger strike at Guantanamo detainment facility, RT sent a formal enquiry to the British Foreign Office. In our letter we asked the Foreign Office to comment on the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where a British resident is being kept among detainees, and whether the British government plans to take any measures to resolve the situation.

In a statement answering RT’s inquiry, a spokesperson of Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated the following.

“The UK has long held that indefinite detention without review or fair trial is unacceptable and we welcome President Obama’s continuing commitment to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and to maintain a lawful, sustainable and principled regime for the handling of detainees there.”

The answer contains no exact information neither on the British citizen being held captive in a US prison, nor on the hunger strike of several Guantanamo prisoners that continues for six weeks already.

As for the US President’s ‘continuing commitment’, it was Barack Obama who promised to close down Guantanamo Bay prison during his presidential campaign in 2008 and who has already returned to the White House for his second presidential term, without any change on the horizon.  As such blame for alleged mistreatment at Guantanamo appears less easily labeled a President Bush era problem.

In December 2012 the lawyers of Shaker Aamer filed legal papers with both the UK’s home and foreign secretaries claiming that British secret services made "knowingly false statements" to the US authorities concerning their client. According to the filed documents, UK’s MI5 and MI6 claimed Shaker Aamer was recruiting people to fight for Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan after the 9/11 and that he was paid directly by Bin Laden – without producing any reliable evidence.

http://rt.com/news/guantanamo-bay-hunger-strike-399/