Guantanamoafp-670
- File Photo by AFP.

WASHINGTON: More prisoners have joined a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention at the US-run Guantanamo military prison, with 92 out of 166 detainees refusing food, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Among them, 17 are on feeding tubes and two are hospitalised but do not have “life-threatening conditions,” Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House said in a statement.

The rapidly growing movement began on February 6, lawyers for the detainees said. Prison authorities began releasing figures on the strike on March 15, saying 14 inmates were participating.

Lawyers for the detainees say the official numbers are still too low.

David Remes, a lawyer who represents 15 prisoners, said some 130 prisoners have been on strike since February.

“At first, GTMO denied that there was a hunger strike. Since then, its count has risen from 0 to 92. Soon they'll hit the mark despite themselves,” he told AFP.

House also confirmed to AFP that two prisoners had attempted suicide on or around April 13, when some 60 detainees were transferred from communal cells into individual ones after guards fired non-lethal shots to quell prisoner unrest.

House said only “10 to 15 are still in communal” cells, indicating that many detainees refuse to comply with prison rules.

“Some of them are continuing to throw feces, urine and blood at the guards,” he said.

The spokesman said “as soon as the detainees show a proper compliance with the rules, then we will move them back into communal.”

“It's all up to the detainees,” he added.

He said the separation also allowed the guards, accompanied by doctors, to ask inmates “on an individual basis: do you want to be a hunger striker?” far from the influence of the leaders in the cell blocks.

The hunger strikers are protesting their incarceration without charge or trial at Guantanamo in the 11 years since the prison went into use for terror suspects detained in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The hunger strikes began February 6, when inmates claimed prison officials searched their Qurans for contraband. Officials have denied any mishandling of Islam's holy book.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.