Stop force-feeding Guantanamo prisoners: Senator

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Stop force-feeding Guantanamo prisoners: Senator

By Jane Sutton
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba | Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:07pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein urged the Pentagon on Wednesday to stop force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and called the practice "out of step" with medical ethics and international norms.

Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, saying the Guantanamo force-feeding policy was also out of synch with policies in the civilian federal prisons.

"Hunger strikes are a long-known form of non-violent protest aimed at bringing attention to a cause, rather than an attempt of suicide," she wrote.

"I believe that the current approach raises very important ethical questions and complicates the difficult situation regarding the continued indefinite detention at Guantanamo."

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/19/us-usa-guantanamo-idUSBRE95I1PQ20130619

[WestStar]

1. UN calls force-feeding 'torture' amid Guantanamo hunger strike

Force-feeding is "torture" and breaks international law, the UN's human rights office said Wednesday, as 100 of the 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay continue a months-long hunger strike. Twenty-one inmates are being force-fed through nasal tubes.

Force-feeding hunger strikers is a breach of international law, the UN's human rights office said Wednesday, as US authorities tried to stem a protest by inmates at the controversial Guantanamo Bay jail.

"If it's perceived as torture or inhuman treatment -- and it's the case, it's painful -- then it is prohibited by international law," Rupert Coville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, told AFP.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130501-force-feeding-torture-un-law-guantanamo-hunger-strike

[libodem]

2. Those poor unfortunate prisoners

Must be so devoid of any hope that death would be preferable. Have they not been tortured enough already? What a sick sadistic society this has created. We are a dominance, hurt and humiliate culture, from the top down. No wonder high school hazing still goes along with sports in this country. Rotten to the core. Vicious, mean, cruel, Cheney World.

I want to move to Canada.