Major Rights Group Tells Obama to End His Barbaric Force-Feeding Gitmo Hunger-Strikers, Asks Readers to Do Same

Physicians for Human Rights have issued a statement urging President Barack Obama to halt the barbaric practice of strapping down in torture chairs and force-feeding hunger-strikers at Guantanamo Bay Prison. PHR has called on the public to join them by telling the one man who can end this abuse: Obama 

“We echo the President’s question and ask you: Is this who we are?”

“When President Obama announced a renewed effort to close Guantánamo in May 2013, he said of force-feeding, ‘Is that who we are? Is that something that our founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?,’” PHR reminds readers. 

Obama has authority to immediately end force-feeding at Guantánamo Bay prison and PHR is urging readers to send that message to him so that this torturous practise ends there where: 

• 166 detainees are presently held at Guantánamo Bay prison.
• 106 detainees have been on hunger strike at one time or another
• 46 detainees on hunger strike are now being force-fed in retaliation and to keep them alive

“As the American Medical Association has pointed out, the practice conflicts with the clinical and ethical responsibilities of the doctors and nurses at Guantánamo, as force-feeding ‘violates core ethical values of the medical profession,’” PHR says.

“Force feeding can be a painful, degrading, and inhuman practice. It’s time to stand up against the barbaric practice of strapping down individuals and forcing tubes down their throats against their will.”

Force feeding an individual without his or her consent violates medical ethics, and constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in violation of United States legal obligations under the Geneva Convention. 

PHR says force-feeding hunger strikers at Guantánamo is only one reason among many that the U.S. Navy prison must be closed.

“It is yet another appalling example of the cruel practices used on people who are enacting a form of protest against their indefinite detention and ill treatment. We must work toward ending the practice of force-feeding and indefinite detention and ultimately the closure of Guantánamo.”

Below is the letter PHR hopes the reader will send to Obama and other decision-makers by completing it online on their website:

Put an End to the Force Feeding of Hunger Strikers

Dear [Decision Maker],

Thank you for your publicly stated commitment to closing the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. That institution, and the indefinite detention it represents, is a scar on the image of the United States, a country that is dedicated to promoting human rights and respecting the rule of law. As Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has demonstrated through its medical research, indefinite detention – coupled with trauma from serious abuse in the past – has left many detainees with profound feelings of helplessness. For many of those detained at Guantánamo, a hunger strike is their only form of protest.

I urge you to use your authority to immediately halt the force feeding of hunger strikers in Guantánamo, authorize independent medical evaluations for those on hunger strike, ensure that hunger strikers are not punished for refusing food, and address the underlying issues of harsh detainee treatment. Hunger strikers can be addressed in a manner that is ethical, legal, and respectful of the detainees’ health. I urge you to implement these recommendations without delay.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Three months ago, Russia Today issued the following report:

Since then, The Guardian released the following YouTube video of Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure with a warning due to the disturbingly graphic content:

Tell Obama to end force-feeding by visiting Physicians for Human Rights website here.