Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Gitmo detainees ask US court to end force feeding...

Hunger striking inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp have petitioned a US federal court to stop the practice of force-feeding, claiming it is unethical and violates their human rights.

With the hunger strike underway for more than four months already, lawyers filed a court motion late Sunday with the US district court in Washington on behalf of four prisoners arguing that the involuntary implementation of life support violates medical ethics as well as religious fasting rituals, the practice of which are guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions.

“During Ramadan, observant Muslims worldwide fast from sunup to sundown. Petitioners are observant Muslims. According to the Geneva Conventions, petitioners must be afforded ‘complete latitude in the exercise of their religious duties,” states the complaint.

The motion filed before the court also included inmates’ affidavits stating that they understand the risk of refusing nutrition.

"Being strapped to a chair and having a tube forcibly inserted through one's nostrils and into one's stomach is dishonorable and degrading," court motion stated. "It falls within the ambit of torture."

 The Department of Justice has not responded but has signaled it will oppose the motion. Full story...

Related posts:
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  2. Further calls for the closure of Guantanamo by the UN and the European...
  3. 125 more guards head to Guantanamo to "help" force-feed inmates...
  4. OpGTMO: Anonymous launches global anti-Guantanmo action...
  5. 100 days of Guantanamo hunger strike...
  6. ‘Worse than death row’: Gitmo hunger strike reaches Day 100 amidst...
  7. Americans demand closure of Guantanamo Bay prison...
  8. ''Obama had no balls to close Gitmo''

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