Guantanamo (hunger) strike in second month

[muriel_volestrangler]

A hunger strike by detainees at the US Guantanamo Bay prison camp has entered a second month, says the US military.

A prison spokesman said 87 inmates were still taking part in the strike that began on 8 August. Lawyers for the prisoners put the figure at 210.

Ten prisoners were being fed through nose tubes and were in a "stable" condition, the spokesman added.

A lawyer said the inmates were prepared to strike until they got a fair hearing and humane treatment or died.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4228732.stm

I half assume this is a dupe, because this must surely be the second item of news on US TV after Katrina, mustn't it? That perhaps 200 people would rather die than live kidnapped by the US government?

Please tell me this is getting exposure in the US media.

[ragin_acadian]

1. no coverage in the US,

I found out about it just like you did, through the BBC. I ran a thread about it a few days ago, one response, sunk straight to the bottom in less than five minutes.

but hey, at least they are on the Murikan side of Cuba. cuz we're really still the good guys, right?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I just checked the websites of TV news

CNN: nothing
ABC: nothing
CBS: nothing
MSNBC: nothing
Fox News: a report on the 1st Sept, when the lawyers first publicised it (and the military weren't commenting at that stage)

Yep, the only TV news to pay any attention at all was Fox (I guess at the time you ran your thread - perhaps AP or a newspaper managed to report it too).

[ragin_acadian]

3. that makes sense about faux running it:

i guess it would be some kind of reinforcement for the "war on terror" - their audience would most likely respond: "good, let them ayvil brown-skin terrists die"

[The Stranger]

4. And the courts rule in favor of the administration, judges shirking their

solemn vow to support the Constitution.

This will dealt with in history with the likes of Dred Scott v. Sanford, and the names signed to these opinions will suffer the same disgrace.

[ragin_acadian]

5. agreed,

i think the precedent they used was Johnson v. Eisentrager (WWII) - which stated that combatants captured on foreign soil had no access to the bill of rights, or the constitution.

the thing is, these detainees aren't combatants, because we aren't at war with any of their countries.

[struggle4progress]

6. U.S. military tube-feeds 13 Gitmo strikers

ALEXANDRA OLSON

Associated Press


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. military is tube-feeding more than a dozen of the 89 terror suspects on hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, a spokesman said Friday.

Some of the 89 striking detainees at Guantanamo have not eaten for a month, said Guantanamo detention mission spokesman Sgt. Justin Behrens. The others have refused at least nine consecutive meals, he said.

Fifteen have been hospitalized and 13 of those were being fed through tubes, Behrens said in a written response to questions from The Associated Press. Medics are monitoring all 89 and checking their vital signs daily, he added.

Previously, the military has said that 76 inmates were participating in the hunger strike. <snip>

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/breaking_news/12605004.htm