In a comment to RT the United Nations rights body said it isinvestigating allegations of mistreatment at America's detentionfacility in Cuba.“While aware of some of the allegations of mistreatment ofinmates said to have provoked the hunger strike – which includeundue interference with the inmates’ personal effects -- we arestill trying to confirm the details,” the spokesperson for theUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navy Pillay said.The Red Cross, which visited the island prison from February 18 to23, was one of the few international organizations to comment onthe situation at the Guantanamo detention camp. It acknowledgedthat a hunger strike was actually taking place, but so far theorganization has only released a statement, stating “The ICRCbelieves past and current tensions at Guantanamo to be the directresult of the uncertainty faced by detainees.”Military censorship makes it quite difficult to access anyinformation about Gitmo prisoners. It was the attorneys for thedetainees that first expressed urgency and grave concern over thelife-threatening mass hunger strike that reportedly started in theGuantanamo Bay detention facility on February 6.According to the Center for Constitutional Rights 130 prisonerswent on a hunger strike to protest the alleged confiscation ofpersonal items such as photos and mail and the alleged sacrilegioushandling of their Korans.Prison spokesman Navy Capt. Robert Durand, however, acknowledgedonly 21 inmates to be on hunger strike. He also denied allallegations of prisoners being mistreated.Even if not for mistreatment and abuse, prisoners could havestarted the strike just to draw attention to their being kept inGuantanamo, with the US refusing to repatriate them, despite somebeing cleared for release.“There are 166 people at Guantanamo. Of those there areprobably 20 guys who are bad guys… like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Theother people... more than half of them - 86 of them have beencleared at least for three years and some during the Bushadministration - cleared as innocent people. And they are stillthere and they are frustrated,” says Thomas Wilner, a lawyer,who used to represent some of the Guantanamo detainees incourt.According to Durand, none of the inmates on hunger strike is inimmediate health danger.Lawyers for the prisoners believe otherwise. They have reportedsome of their clients had weight loss of up to or more than 20pounds (8kg) and have been hospitalized. Medical experts say thatby day 45, hunger strikers can experience potential blindness andpartial hearing loss.The Center for Constitutional Rights and habeas counsel havesent a letter to US Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, urging him“to address this growing crisis at Guantánamo before another mandies at the prison, this time under his watch. The hunger strikeshould be a wake-up call for the Obama Administration, which cannotcontinue to ignore the human cost of Guantánamo and put off closingthe prison any longer.”Meanwhile, JTF-GTMO announced that flights to the island prisonfrom South Florida will be terminated on April 5. The step is seenby the prisoners’ attorneys as an attempt by the Defense Departmentto limit access to their clients. … Read More
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