[NY Prison Act] Guantánamo Hunger Strike

[Todd Eaton]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/politics/22gitmo.html
July 22, 2005
Some Guantánamo Prisoners Have Gone on Hunger Strike
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, July 21 (AP) - Some 50 prisoners at the American naval base at 
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have been on a hunger strike for three days, a 
Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.

The spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said he did not know why the prisoners, 
detained as terrorism suspects, were refusing food, adding that their 
health was being monitored. Some have already begun eating again, Mr. 
Whitman said.

The Pentagon's account of the protest contrasted somewhat with that of two 
Afghans released on Monday from Guantánamo. The two, Habir Russol and Moheb 
Ullah Borekzai, said on Wednesday that more than 180 Afghans were on a 
hunger strike to protest mistreatment.

Mr. Russol and Mr. Borekzai estimated that the men were in the 14th or 15th 
day of their fast.

Mr. Borekzai later said of the hunger strikers: "Some of these people say 
they were mistreated during interrogation. Some say they are innocent."

"They are protesting that they have been in jail nearly four years, and 
they want to be released," he said.

Neil Koslowe, a lawyer in Washington for 12 detainees from Kuwait, said 
several inmates told him during a June 20-24 visit to Guantánamo that there 
was a "widespread" hunger strike over the amount and quality of their 
drinking water.

The two Afghans released this week said they had been accused of being 
members of the former Taliban government, but both said they were innocent. 
Neither said how long they had been detained. The Pentagon also announced 
Wednesday that seven Guantánamo detainees had been released and an eighth 
transferred to the custody of a foreign government. In addition to the two 
released Afghans, three Saudi Arabians, a Jordanian and a Sudanese were 
freed, it said.

The three Saudis, who were not identified, were handed over to Saudi 
security, the official Saudi Press Agency said in Riyadh. In addition, a 
Moroccan was transferred to control of the government of Spain, American 
officials said. The Pentagon did not identify the detainees. The Moroccan 
was identified earlier this week in Spain as Lahcen Ikassrien, who had been 
charged there for his links to Al Qaeda.

The transfers leave about 510 prisoners at Guantánamo.

     * Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company