Guantanamo force feeding

Nasal tubes, gravity feeding bags, and the liquid nutrient Ensure used in Guantanamo force feeding. For more illustrations, see[1]

Detainees held in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps have initiated both individual and widespread hunger strikes at Guantánamo Bay, and camp medical authorities have initiated force-feeding programs.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

In 2005, Captain John Edmonson, who was then Naval Base's chief medical officer, asserted that force feeding was a last resort, used only when counseling failed, and when the detainee's body mass index fell below the healthy range. According to Edmonson detainees normally cooperated, and restraints were unnecessary.[3] According to Edmonson detainees were normally only given 1500 Calories per day.

The UN Human Rights Commission said it regards force-feeding at Guantanamo as a form of torture and the World Medical Association specifically prohibited force-feeding in its Declaration of Tokyo.

Rapper Yasiin Bey, also known as Mos Def, volunteered for a demonstration with Reprieve based on the leaked documents of the procedure.[8] Guantanamo medical personnel criticized the demonstration as false. One nurse said of the detainees, "Most are asking us to hurry up, make it go faster." A Guantanamo watch commander, and former fan, reacted by deleting Mos Def's music from his iPod.[9]

  1. ^ Photos from Guantanamo’s force-feeding facilities Archived 11 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post 10 May 2013
  2. ^ "Guantanamo Standard Operating Procedures" (PDF). Joint Task Force Guantanamo. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2010.
  3. ^ a b Kathleen Rehm (1 December 2005). "GTMO feedings humane, within medical care standards" (PDF). The Wire (JTF-GTMO). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  4. ^ JTF-GTMO (16 March 2007). "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Sonia Saini, Almerindo Ojeda. "Heights, weights, and in-processing dates" (PDF). humanrights.ucdavis.edu. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Mefasurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)" (PDF). humanrights.ucdavis.edu, from DoD data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2010.
  7. ^ Worthington, Andy (2009). "Starvation statistics" (PDF). humanrights.ucdavis.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2010.
  8. ^ Ferguson, Ben (9 July 2013). "When Yasiin Bey was force-fed Guantánamo Bay-style – eyewitness account". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  9. ^ Sutton, Jane (26 July 2013). "Rapper's force-feeding video riles U.S. medics at Guantanamo Bay". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2017.