US ordered not to force feed Guantanamo prisoner

[LazyLion]

A federal judge in Washington ordered the U.S. military on Friday to at least temporarily stop force-feeding a hunger striking prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay naval base.

The order from U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler bars the force feeding of prisoner Abu Wa'el Dhiab at least until a hearing on Wednesday. It also directs the military from forcibly removing the prisoner from his cell at the U.S. base in Cuba.

The temporary restraining order is in place at least until the judge can hold a hearing to determine when the U.S. government will turn over the Syrian prisoner's medical records and any videotapes of the force-feeding procedure he has undergone while on hunger strike.

Lawyers for the prisoner have challenged his treatment during the hunger strike as part of a broader legal challenge of his overall confinement and are ultimately seeking a court order for his release from Guantanamo. They welcomed Kessler's order on force feeding as an important step.

"This is a major crack in Guantanamo's years-long effort to oppress prisoners and to exercise total control over information about the prison," said Cori Crider, an attorney with the British legal rights group Reprieve that represents the prisoner.

A Defense Department spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, said the military only feeds prisoners against their will to keep them alive and follows all laws when it does so. "We will, of course, comply with the judge's order here," he said by email.

Prisoners at Guantanamo have engaged in hunger strikes for years to protest their confinement. The military force feeds prisoners a liquid nutrient mix through a nasal tube against their will when doctors at the base determine it is necessary. Officials no longer disclose how many of the 154 prisoners at the base are on hunger strike and meet the guidelines for force feeding.

Dhiab, 42, has been held without charge at Guantanamo since August 2002. His lawyers say he has been cleared for release and media in Uruguay say he is one of a handful of Syrians held at the base who are being considered for resettlement in the South American country. U.S. officials have declined to confirm those reports.


Source : Sapa-AP /aw
Date : 17 May 2014 05:04

 

[Lycanthrope]

The military force feeds prisoners a liquid nutrient mix through a nasal tube against their will when doctors at the base determine it is necessary.

Talk about barbarity :/

 

[Ninja'd]

But can they still waterboard them?

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Talk about barbarity :/

Would you rather have the prisoners starve to death because they refuse to eat? It's not pleasant, but the outcry about hunger strike deaths would be even greater.

 

[Ninja'd]

Would you rather have the prisoners starve to death because they refuse to eat? It's not pleasant, but the outcry about hunger strike deaths would be even greater.

America, damned if they do and damned if they don't.

stolen from ghoti

 

[Lycanthrope]

Would you rather have the prisoners starve to death because they refuse to eat? It's not pleasant, but the outcry about hunger strike deaths would be even greater.

Er... Yes, obviously. Because, you know, that's their choice.

 

[HDS]

A good friend of mine used to be stationed at Guantanamo, back when I was living in the US, circa 2004. That was before the media cracked down on the practices in the facility. From what I heard from him, the way they treat prisoners is beyond inhumane. The terrorists detained there deserve nothing less, but how many stories did we hear of people wrongfully arrested and detained, and those who don't even get a trial?

Er... Yes, obviously. Because, you know, that's their choice.

Not while they are in prison. The authority decides their fate.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Not while they are in prison. The authority decides their fate.

Prisoners serve a sentence. It's not expected to be paradise but force-feeding a prisoner is right up there with torture. Prisons are not supposed to be the equivalent of a medieval dungeon, and any society that resorts to acts that are as criminal as that of the criminals it purports to punish, loses its right to call itself "civilised."

 

[OrbitalDawn]

A good friend of mine used to be stationed at Guantanamo, back when I was living in the US, circa 2004. That was before the media cracked down on the practices in the facility. From what I heard from him, the way they treat prisoners is beyond inhumane. The terrorists detained there deserve nothing less, but how many stories did we hear of people wrongfully arrested and detained, and those who don't even get a trial?

Why? What's the benchmark for how we treat prisoners? Stone age barbarism?

Prisoners serve a sentence. It's not expected to be paradise but force-feeding a prisoner is right up there with torture. Prisons are not supposed to be the equivalent of a medieval dungeon, and any society that resorts to acts that are as criminal as that of the criminals it purports to punish, loses its right to call itself "civilised."

+1.

 

[R13...]

So they admit to force feeding but not torturing them? Odd that Yankees.

 

[HDS]

Prisoners serve a sentence. It's not expected to be paradise but force-feeding a prisoner is right up there with torture. Prisons are not supposed to be the equivalent of a medieval dungeon,

I didn't dispute that it wasn't torture. I totally agree that it is. But for a convicted prisoner to serve his sentence, he has to be alive doesn't he? Starving to death is an easy way to elude your punishment.

any society that resorts to acts that are as criminal as that of the criminals it purports to punish, loses its right to call itself "civilised.

I don't think blowing yourself up in the middle of a crowd or supporting a terrorist organisation is the same as force feeding someone.

 

[HDS]

Why? What's the benchmark for how we treat prisoners? Stone age barbarism?

Let's get something straight : are you saying that imprisoned and convicted terrorists deserve to be treated humanely?

 

[RanzB]

I didn't dispute that it wasn't torture. I totally agree that it is. But for a convicted prisoner to serve his sentence, he has to be alive doesn't he? Starving to death is an easy way to elude your punishment.

Not quite. Bobby Sands didn't quite find it 'easy'.

 

[RanzB]

Let's get something straight : are you saying that imprisoned and convicted terrorists deserve to be treated humanely?

Well, since you make the point that they have people in there who haven't undergone a trial, and those have been wrongfully convicted, how do you differentiate between those you treat worse than animals and those you don't?

 

[Lycanthrope]

I don't think blowing yourself up in the middle of a crowd or supporting a terrorist organisation is the same as force feeding someone.

So the worse the offence, the worse the criminal can be treated? And this should apply to everyone, of course, including those who very may well be innocent of what they've been accused of? Or those awaiting trial?

There's a reason people are supposed to be treated equally and why even prisoners are afforded certain rights.

 

[HDS]

Well, since you make the point that they have people in there who haven't undergone a trial, and those have been wrongfully convicted, how do you differentiate between those you treat worse than animals and those you don't?

That is exactly the big problem with Guantanamo. I'm in no way defending what they are doing there, since there is no differentiation between those who are guilty and those who are not.

So the worse the offence, the worse the criminal can be treated? And this should apply to everyone, of course, including those who very may well be innocent of what they've been accused of? Or those awaiting trial?

There's a reason people are supposed to be treated equally and why even prisoners are afforded certain rights.

What? When did I say that? I'm not a proponent of punishing everyone just so those who deserve their punishment won't be able to get away from it. I don't support what Guantanamo is doing. As I said in my previous post, in the prison there is no differentiation between those convicted and those who are not, which I said I don't agree with.

On the other hand, terrorists who were convicted deserve no mercy. How many lives were lost due to acts of terrorism? These guys deserve to be tortured for the rest of their lives and then die a cruel death at the end of their miserable existence. Now that's my opinion, you obviously have a different one with which I don't agree and that's okay, we are here to debate each other's opinions after all.

 

[ponder]

I concur, let them starve!