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Guantánamo hunger strikers accuse US of manipulating force-feeding data
Source: The Guardian
Guantánamo hunger strikers accuse US of manipulating force-feeding data
Spencer Ackerman in New York
theguardian.com, Thursday 15 May 2014 14.38 BST
Recent letters written by Guantánamo Bay detainees on hunger strike accuse the US military of manipulating data about the strike and using force-feeding techniques as a method of punishment.
Letters from a Yemeni detainee, Emad Hassan, and a Saudi former resident of the UK, Shaker Aamer, describe a core of “around 17” hunger strikers, down from a peak of 106 last spring. But the letters allege that the number is kept artificially low by a “new strategy” of only force-feeding detainees when their weight reaches dangerous levels, which the US military denied.
The letters come as the Defense Department admitted, for the first time, that it has recorded video of some of the Guantánamo force-feedings.
They also come months after the US military command at the detention facility, stung by criticism of its handling of the hunger strike, drastically curtailed the release of information about the residual strikers.
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Spencer Ackerman in New York
theguardian.com, Thursday 15 May 2014 14.38 BST
Recent letters written by Guantánamo Bay detainees on hunger strike accuse the US military of manipulating data about the strike and using force-feeding techniques as a method of punishment.
Letters from a Yemeni detainee, Emad Hassan, and a Saudi former resident of the UK, Shaker Aamer, describe a core of “around 17” hunger strikers, down from a peak of 106 last spring. But the letters allege that the number is kept artificially low by a “new strategy” of only force-feeding detainees when their weight reaches dangerous levels, which the US military denied.
The letters come as the Defense Department admitted, for the first time, that it has recorded video of some of the Guantánamo force-feedings.
They also come months after the US military command at the detention facility, stung by criticism of its handling of the hunger strike, drastically curtailed the release of information about the residual strikers.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/15/guantanamo-hunger-strikers-force-feeding
