The detainees have claimed that most of them are involved in thedo-or-die strike, and their attorneys have become concerned aboutthe prisoners’ worsening health.“By day 45 we understand from medical experts there areserious health repercussions that start happening. Loss of hearing,potential blindness,” Pardiss Kebriaei, a New York lawyerrepresenting Yemeni detainee Ghaleb Al-Bihanim told RT. “Thepotential there is for death as well if the hunger strike continuesfor weeks.”Her client has allegedly lost 20 pounds since the beginning ofthe strike. The collective protest was reportedly triggered by theprison staff’s seizure of the inmates' personal belongings. Thehunger strike began on February 6, with the prisoners protestingagainst the confiscation of their personal letters, photographs andlegal mail, as well as the allegedly sacrilegious handling of theirKorans during searches of their cells.While prison officials have acknowledged that the hunger strikehas been taking place, they have denied that the protest is largein scale, or threatening to prisoners’ health. According to RobertDurand, the director of public affairs for Joint Task ForceGuantanamo, only nine detainees are refusing food, five of whom arebeing fed through tubes inserted into their stomachs.Durand said the claims of desecration of the Koran areunfounded: "There have been no incidents of desecration of theKoran by guards or translators, and nothing unusual happened duringa routine search for contraband," he told AFP.The detainees’ lawyers and human rights activists have calledfor a response by authorities more meaningful than the few remarksmade by the prison’s media spokesperson.The detention camp in eastern Cuba reportedly holds 166 menseized in counterterrorism operations, most of who have been heldwithout charge for a decade. Although Barack Obama promised to shutdown the facility at the beginning of his first term as president,the facility remains open.The UN said that the policy of indefinite detention atGuantanamo Bay amounts to torture, while prisoners not formallyaccused of a crime have hoped to finally be brought before a court.Although half of the Guantanamo detainees have received papers fromthe US government clearing them for release, they are still beingheld at the camp.“That context where we have individuals incarcerated,isolated from each other, and they don’t know if they are going toget out tomorrow or never. That sets off a circumstance for extremepsychological stress,” Dr. Mark Mason, an anthropologist whostudies the cultural factors behind human suffering toldRT.The real challenge for the detainees is to make themselves heardby means of the hunger strike. Their lawyers have sent a letter tothe US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urging him to take action toend the protest.“It’s really an abominable humanitarian situation whereyou’re depriving these people of life and liberty and for no reallyvalid basis,” detainee lawyer Eric Montalvo told RT.Human rights organizations have reported hundreds of suicideattempts, at least seven of which were successful. Last September,a Yemeni detainee took his life after spending more than a decadeat Guantanamo. Adnan Latif had been cleared for release by both theBush and Obama administrations, but was never freed.“President Obama in his first term within 24 hours said, ‘I’mgonna close Guantanamo Bay because it doesn’t need to exist,’ andyet we sit here how many years later and we talk about all of thebudget cuts and millions and millions and millions of dollars thatwe’re spending on this facility, the medical care, thetransportation of personnel to and from, the upgrade of thefacilities,” Montalvo said.“It’s just nonsensical, it makes absolutely no sense andsomebody needs to go down there, make some decisions and clear thatplace out because it has no purpose other than babysitting a bunchof adult people that have been cleared of any wrongdoing and theyjust need to be sent home,” he added.Guantanamo Bay was opened on the wake of 9/11 as part of theGeorge W. Bush administration’s War on Terror. Washington hasalleged the inmates are terrorists who plotted or acted against theAmerican people. Guantanamo Bay became a source of heated publicdebate after it was revealed that US forces had tortureddetainees. … Read More
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