Hunger Strikers At Guantanamo Sharply Increase
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The number of Guantanamo Bay detainees participating in a hunger strike has ballooned from three to around 75, the U.S. military said yesterday, revealing growing defiance among prisoners held for up to 4 1/2 years with no end in sight.
Navy Commander Robert Durand called the hunger strike at the American naval base in southeastern Cuba an “attention-getting” tactic to step up pressure for the inmates’ release and said it might be related to a May 18 clash between detainees and guards that injured six prisoners.
“The hunger strike technique is consistent with Al Qaeda practice and reflects detainee attempts to elicit media attention to bring international pressure on the United States to release them back to the battlefield,” Commander Durand said from Guantanamo Bay.
Defense lawyers said the hunger strike, which began last year, reflects increasing frustration among men who have little contact with the world outside the remote prison.
“I think it is escalating because the people down there are getting more and more desperate,” said Bill Goodman, legal director for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents many of the detainees. “Obviously, things have reached a crisis point.”
The military did not release the names of the striking detainees, and lawyers said they have no way of learning whether their clients are involved until they can visit the base.
Commander Durand said the number of hunger strikers reached about 75 over the weekend. American officials classify detainees as being on hunger strike when they have missed nine consecutive meals.
Some 76 detainees began the strike last August to protest their confinement, with their ranks peaking at 131 in the fall, the military has said.
Defense lawyers have accused the military of underreporting the number of hunger strikers.
The lawyers say the number of strikers dwindled to three earlier this year after the military adopted more aggressive measures to force feed them, including using a restraint chair.
