First Gitmo death among hunger strikers a matter of time: Lawyers

“There is an urgency. It is clear that if this hunger strike continues there will be deaths. These men are going to die in this prison for nothing. It is an absolute outrage,” said US Army Captain Jason Wright who is representing the 115lb “bag of bones” detainee, Obaidullah.
 
Amnesty International added this week that the situation at the notorious camp is “at a crisis point,” while UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, described the condition as “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
 
Medical personnel were recently flown in to force-feed 23 of the hunger-strikers twice a day via tubes snaked up their nose and into their stomach.
 
    “[Detainee Fayiz al-Kandari] said they strap you to a chair, tie up your wrists, your legs, your forehead and tightly around the waist. The tube makes his eyes water excessively and blood begins to trickle from the nose,” said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Wingard who is legally representing al-Kandari.
 
 
“Once the tube passes his throat the gag reflex kicks in. Warm liquid is poured into the body for 45 minutes to two hours. He feels like his body is going to convulse and often vomits,” Wingard added.
 
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has urged the US President Barack Obama's administration to mend the situation in Guantanamo that has compelled prisoners to starve themselves, saying that the act of force-feeding is akin to torture.
 
Detainees began the hunger strike on February 6 to protest against prison conditions and the detainees’ indefinite confinement. About 130 inmates are on hunger strike, the prisoners’ lawyers said.
 
Most of the 166 detainees being held at the jail have been cleared for release or never charged.
 
“They won’t let us live in peace and now they won’t let us die in peace,” said detainee al-Kandari.