Rare Pictures Show Harsh Life of Prisoners at Guantanamo
Newly published images from the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay prison display the extent of abuse prisoners face at the notorious prison complex.
Some of the images reveal how prisoners are force-fed if they go on hunger strike.
One picture shows that prisoners on hunger strike are strapped to a metal restraint chair and fed through the nose with plastic tubing.
Another picture shows a chart given to detainees to indicate their level of pain and demonstrate their emotions while in detention.
Over 130 of the 166 Guantanamo Bay prisoners are on their 142nd day of hunger strike, protesting their conditions.
Human rights groups have condemned the force-feeding of hunger-striking detainees, saying it is a form of torture.
A hunger striker at the prison has said that American officials are using increasingly brutal tactics to break up the nearly five-month strike.
Shaker Aamer said American officials make prisoner’s cells “freezing cold to accentuate the discomfort of those on hunger strike” and force "metal-tipped" tubes into hunger strikers' stomachs twice a day in order to keep them alive, the Guardian reported.
Aamer, who is the last British inmate at Guantanamo, explained that the harsh force-feeding process causes inmates to vomit over themselves.
The notorious prison complex was established by the Bush administration and has been used by the U.S. military since 2002.
Shutting down the Guantanamo detention camp was a central theme of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 as he acknowledged that the prison was a symbol of the U.S. government’s violation of human rights.
The majority of Guantanamo prisoners have been held for over a decade without a charge.
In 2010, President Obama's Guantanamo Review Task Force said that only 36 of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo would eventually be prosecuted as they lacked any evidence to charge the rest of prisoners.
However, Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, has called that number “ambitious” saying at most 20 prisoners could face war crimes tribunals.
Although Obama has repeatedly promised to shut down the infamous facility, the Pentagon has asked for a $450 million budget for the prison.
Source: Press TV
One picture shows that prisoners on hunger strike are strapped to a metal restraint chair and fed through the nose with plastic tubing.
Another picture shows a chart given to detainees to indicate their level of pain and demonstrate their emotions while in detention.
Over 130 of the 166 Guantanamo Bay prisoners are on their 142nd day of hunger strike, protesting their conditions.
Human rights groups have condemned the force-feeding of hunger-striking detainees, saying it is a form of torture.
A hunger striker at the prison has said that American officials are using increasingly brutal tactics to break up the nearly five-month strike.
Shaker Aamer said American officials make prisoner’s cells “freezing cold to accentuate the discomfort of those on hunger strike” and force "metal-tipped" tubes into hunger strikers' stomachs twice a day in order to keep them alive, the Guardian reported.
Aamer, who is the last British inmate at Guantanamo, explained that the harsh force-feeding process causes inmates to vomit over themselves.
The notorious prison complex was established by the Bush administration and has been used by the U.S. military since 2002.
Shutting down the Guantanamo detention camp was a central theme of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 as he acknowledged that the prison was a symbol of the U.S. government’s violation of human rights.
The majority of Guantanamo prisoners have been held for over a decade without a charge.
In 2010, President Obama's Guantanamo Review Task Force said that only 36 of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo would eventually be prosecuted as they lacked any evidence to charge the rest of prisoners.
However, Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, has called that number “ambitious” saying at most 20 prisoners could face war crimes tribunals.
Although Obama has repeatedly promised to shut down the infamous facility, the Pentagon has asked for a $450 million budget for the prison.
Source: Press TV
