March 20The UN Human Rights body responds to mounting media coverage ofthe Guantanamo crisis. Ina letter answering RT’s inquiry, spokesman for the HighCommissioner says the office is looking into the details of themass hunger strike.“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 letter says.The statement from the office of the High Commissioner goes onto say UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay has “repeatedlyregretted that the US Government has not closed GuantanamoBay.”She is concerned with fact that the National DefenseAuthorization Act has created obstacles for the closure ofGuantanamo and also trial of detainees in civilian courts, as wellas failure to release those cleared of allegations.Famous American human rights activist, Angela Davis calls forclosure of Guantanamo in a French daily L’Humanité, AFPreports.“This tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War makes us,finally, question the further existence of Guantanamo. On this saddate we must come up with a stronger and more resolute call forclosure of the Guantanamo prison,” Davis wrote.March 19Guantanamo Communications director Captain Robert Durand saysthe number of detainees on hunger strike reached24. Still, he rejects claims by the detainees’ attorneysthat the majority of inmates are involved in the protest.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), whichvisited the island prison from February 18 to 23, is the firstamong international organizations to comment on the situation atthe Guantanamo detention camp. It released the followingstatement:“The ICRC believes past and current tensions at Guantanamo tobe the direct result of the uncertainty faced bydetainees.”March 18Navy Capt. Robert Durand says 21 Guantanamo Bay prisoners arenow on a hunger strike. Eight men are being fed with a liquidnutrient mix to prevent dangerous weight loss from occurring, whiletwo others are at the prison hospital being treated withdehydration.In a letter to RT, Durand said “the reportsof hunger-strike related deteriorating health and detainees losingmassive amounts of weight are simply untrue.” However, lawyers for Guantanamo inmates maintain the strike ismore widespread than the military acknowledges - and a former Gitmoprisoner agrees.Omar Deghayes was held at Guantanamo Bay for five years beforebeing released without charge. While participating in hungerstrikes at the prison, Deghayes recalls hearing the same“rhetoric” from the US military.“The rhetoric that [Durand] is describing is something thatwe went through many times when we were inside Guantanamo on hungerstrikes. They used to say the same false things that I’m hearingnow. They’d say ‘the number is small’ or ‘there is no hungerstrike,’ or ‘we treat people with dignity,’” he told RT.March 17The London Guantanamo Campaign holds a demonstration outside theUS embassy in London to “raise awareness about the hungerstrike, which has more or less – at least in Britain – been ignoredby the mainstream media,” the campaign’s coordinator, AishaManiar, tells RT.“We’ve been in contact with some of the lawyers who have been[to Guantanamo] over the last week and they’ve been reporting thatwhen they have met their clients, that their health has been prettypoor,” Maniar says.March 16Attorneys for at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say that a general hunger strike involving many of the 166detainees who remain incarcerated there has entered its secondmonth.However, the US military strongly denies that claim, calling it"a fabrication," and instead says only 14 detainees areactively engaged in hunger strikes detrimental to their health.“Our understanding is that based on previous standards, thedetermination of who is a hunger striker is a discretionarydetermination that Guantanamo makes. What those standards are, whatthe criteria are, are questions that they need to be asked. How arethey defining hunger striker and when are they determining thatsomeone needs to be tube fed? And if the definition of hungerstriker is entirely in their control and it is a matter of theirdiscretion, then I think that explains how they are able to saythat there are no more than a handful of men on hunger strike,”Pardiss Kebriaei, attorney for the Center for ConstitutionalRights, which represents a Yemeni detained at Guantanamo, tells RT.March 15The US military says that 14 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prisoncan be defined as hunger strikers, five more than they hadpreviously reported. Lawyers have said that more than 100 inmates are taking part in the five-week-longprotest. One of the strikers was taken to the prison hospital, Guantanamodetention center spokesperson Navy Capt. Robert Durand said Friday.Five others are being fed through tubes put through their nosesinto their stomachs, while eight others are not yet sufficientlymalnourished to merit such treatment, he said.Durand denied that the hunger strike is “a widespreadphenomenon, as alleged,” by the captives’ lawyers, and accusedthem of spreading “outright falsehoods and grossexaggerations.” He downplayed the reports of a mass hungerstrike at Gitmo, saying that most of the alleged strikers areskipping regular meals, but substituting them with snacks.“Refusing prepared meals and choosing to subsist for a timeon snack foods does not constitute a hunger strike,” Durandsaid.Durand confirmed the reports that some of the detainees hadtheir Korans taken from them, but called it an attempt atmanipulation: “If we accept their Koran, it would be portrayedas either an admission that it required protection and safekeeping,or as a confiscation by the guard force, depriving them of thereligious articles needed to practice their faith.”He also insisted that all searches are conducted in a regularway, and that no mistreatment of Muslim holy books has taking placeat Gitmo.March 14The health of prisoners held in Kafkaesque limbo at theGuantanamo Bay detention camp has deteriorated alarmingly afterover 100 inmates went on a protest hunger strike five weeksago.The detainees have claimed that most of them are involved in thedo-or-die hunger strike, and their attorneys have become concernedabout the 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, attorney for the Centerfor Constitutional Rights, which represents a Yemeni detained atGuantanamo, tells RT. “The potential there is for death as wellif the hunger strike continues for weeks.”Her client has allegedly lost 20lbs (9kg) 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 protesting against the confiscation of theirpersonal letters, photographs and legal mail, as well as theallegedly sacrilegious handling of their Korans during searches oftheir cells.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.Prison officials have acknowledged that the hunger strike istaking place. However, they deny that it is a large-scale event:Nine detainees are refusing food, five of whom are being fedthrough tubes inserted into their stomachs, according to RobertDurand, director of public affairs for the Joint Task ForceGuantanamo.Durand also said that the claims of desecration of the Koranwere unfounded."To be clear: there have been no incidents of desecration ofthe Koran by guards or translators, and nothing unusual happenedduring a routine search for contraband," he told AFP.March 13The detainee hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay’s maximum-securityprison is a last-resort cry for help from those who have spentyears in custody without being charged, and who have no hope ofrelease, anti-war activist Sara Flounders tells RT.March 12 “What we did last week was send a letter on behalf of theattorneys who have received direct information, asking questionsand reporting what we have heard from our clients to theauthorities at Guantanamo, and copying the Department of Justice.Asking for their side of the story and to respond, seeking a quickresolution to what’s going on. We’ve received no response from thatletter so far. At this point, the strike is more than 30 days oldand by Day 45, we understand from medical experts there are serioushealth repercussions that start happening,” Pardiss Kebriaei,attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which representsa Yemeni detained at Guantanamo, tells RT.Meanwhile, geopolitical analyst Ryan Dawson tells RT that the prisoners wereleft with little recourse other than a hunger strike. The prisonershad a previous hunger strike in 2005, which led to thehospitalization of 18 people.“What I find disgusting in this one is the US is denying thestrike is as large as it is and downplaying it, saying its only afew inmates but they’ve had to admit that at least five are beingforce-fed through tubes in their stomachs, so this is obviouslyreal…Its hard to get lower than Guantanamo Bay. A lot of these menare detained without trial, some without even charges. That doesn’tmean they're innocent, but it doesn’t mean they're guilty either.And the problem is secrecy. When you have this level of secrecy,you're just creating an environment for abuse because they arebasically human beings with no rights,” Dawson said.March 11"My client and other men have reported that most of thedetainees in Camp 6 are on strike, except for a small few who areelderly or sick," Pardiss Kebriaei, attorney for the Center forConstitutional Rights, which represents a Yemeni detained atGuantanamo, Pardiss Kebriaei tells RT. Men have reported coughed upblood, lost consciousness and were forced to move to other wings ofthe facility for observation.March 10“We have to understand that all the inmates at Guantanamo bayare devout Muslims so desecrating a Koran for them is the last blowto their dignity. It is of extreme importance to them and accordingto them they are imprisoned because they are Muslim and that’s kindof proving their point. Unfortunately that’s something that wasquite common under [President George W.] Bush. We thought[President] Obama would be more thoughtful to Muslim beliefs but weare seeing that’s not the case…for people who have beenincarcerated for 11 years, been away from their families for 11years, have not been charged for for 11 years, its understandablethat taking what is a small item to us is nothing, but to them itis basically their life… the main question is not why they arebeing treated like that in prison, but why are they in prison,because they have been cleared for release,” Arnaud Mafille, anactivist with Cageprisoners Human Rights group, tells RT.March 09“The current tensions in Guantanamo, as far as we can see andas far as we understand, are really the result of the uncertaintyfaced by the detainees in Guantanamo – the uncertainty linked totheir fate, what is going to happen to them. There is a lack ofclear, legal framework for their dentition. Most of them don’t knowwhat is going to happen to them. So it has always been our positionthat there needs to be a clear, legal framework and a transparentprocess in terms of procedural safeguards for the detainees. Itneeds to be transparent and fair to alleviate the emotional andmental strain that the uncertainty triggers for the detainees,"Simon Schorno, spokesperson for the International Red Cross inNorth America, tells RT.March 08Washington-based attorney David Remes tells CBS News that as ofMarch 8, six detainees he represents had refused food for 36days, skipping 102 meals, and each man said he had lost atleast 30lbs (13.6kg)."It was quite noticeable," Remes says. "The men I sawwere weak, tired, chilled, and had lost a substantial amount ofweight."One of those detainees, Yasin Qassem Muhammad Ismail, fromYemen, who followed up with a phone call to Remes on Wednesday,told the attorney that he now weighed 109lbs (49kg), down from150lbs (68kg).March 07"Not having access to detainees is a problem for a humanrights organization, it’s something we raise with theauthorities...we have to wait until a detainee is released until wecan speak to them. This leads to under-reporting on individualdetainee cases and leads to a time lag because the lawyersthemselves aren’t there the whole time. It requiresdeclassification of certain information when they do get it, soit’s a really problematic situation. Its been problematic the wholetime that the Guantanamo detentions have been in operation,"USA researcher for Amnesty International, Rob Freer, tells RT.March 05After meeting their client, Fayiz al-Kandari’s team of military lawyersreport that al-Kandari said that the hunger strike“certainly hurts physically,” but he felt “very sorry forhis parents whose psychological pain is 10 times greater than hisphysical discomfort.”Attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, whichrepresents a Yemeni detained at Guantanamo, says attorney reportsof the hunger strike are consistent.“What we understand for our clients – and this is coming fromevery attorney that has either been down to Guantanamo sinceFebruary or has communicated with their client in some form throughletters or phone calls – is that there has been a hunger strikegoing on at among almost all of the men in Camp 6 at Guantanamo,which is the largest facility at Guantanamo. They have beenrefusing all food, only drinking water, tea, and coffee, sinceearly February,” Pardiss Kebriaei tells RT.March 04America’s infamous Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba has reportedlybecome the scene of a widespread hunger strike – now in its thirdweek – yet on Monday a prison spokesman denied that any such activity was taking place.The lawyers for the prisoners said in a letter to the prisoncommander, that “all but a few men” are on hunger strike andthat their condition "appears to be rapidly deteriorating andreaching a potentially critical level."The protest can best be summed up with a statement that theCenter for Constitutional Rights (CCR) sent to military officials.They wrote that “since approximately February 6, 2013, campauthorities have been confiscating detainees’ personal items,including blankets, sheets, towels, mats, razors, toothbrushes,books, family photos, religious CDs, and letters, including legalmail; and restricting their exercise, seemingly without provocationor cause.” Moreover, “Arabic interpreters employed by theprison have been searching the men’s Korans in ways that constitutedesecration according to their religious beliefs, and that guardshave been disrespectful during prayer times.”A prison spokesman said that the Department of Justice willaddress the lawyers’ letter of complaint, he also claimed thatthere had only been six people on strike for a year now. Otherdetainees simply didn’t skip enough meals to be considered onstrike at all, according to military rules. The spokesman, NavyCapt. Robert Durand, said that "some detainees have attempted tocoordinate a hunger strike and have refused meal deliveries. Mostdetainees are not participating." He tried to describe thereasons the inmates had for going on strike as blown out ofproportion, claiming that they "have chosen one routine searchin early February as the rallying point for theirgrievances.”March 2Colonel Barry Waingard, who was assigned by the Pentagonto defend the Kuwaiti detainee at Guantanamo prison FayezAl-Kandari, reveals that the Kuwaiti detainees Fayez Al-Kandari andFawzi Al-Awda went on a hunger strike with other prisoners and lostnearly 10kg each, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported.Waingard said in a statement that the detainees went on a hunger strike becausethey are being ill-treated inside the prison, indicating at thesame time that the detainees have now realized death is the onlyway out of the prison.February 28The lawyers confirm that Fayiz al-Kandari’s weight loss over theprevious three-and-a-half weeks had reached 26lbs (12kg).February 27The team of lawyers reports, “Today, we had a communicationwith the Kuwait legal team concerning Fayiz and Fawzi’s physicalcondition in GTMO. It is difficult meeting with a man who has noteaten in almost three weeks, but we are scheduled for an all-daysession tomorrow which we are sure Fayiz will not be able tocomplete due his failing physical condition. Additionally, welearned that our other client Abdul Ghani, [an Afghan] who has beencleared for release since 2010, is also on a hunger strike. Eleven years without anopportunity to defend themselves.”February 26Fayiz al-Kandari’s team of military lawyers announces, “Fayizhas lost more than 20lbs (9kg) and lacks the ability to concentratefor more than a few minutes at a time due to a camp-wide hungerstrike. Apparently there is a dispute over searches and theconfiscations. We believe there is a desperation setting amongstthe prisoners whereby GTMO is forgotten and its condemned men willnever get an opportunity to prove their innocence or befree.”February 25Fayiz al-Kandari’s team of military lawyers arrives at theprison.February 23Reports first begin to emerge about a hunger strike atGuantanamo Bay.The following message appeared on the “FreeFayiz and Fawzi” page on Facebook, run by lawyers for Fayiz al-Kandari and Fawzi al-Odah, the last two Kuwaitis inthe prison: “Information is beginning to come out about a hungerstrike, the size of which has not been seen since 2008. Preliminaryword is that it’s due to unprecedented searches and a new guardforce.”February 6The Guantanamo Bay hunger strike reportedly began on or around thisdate. … Read More
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