Yesterday I started a petition for the prisoners in Guantanamo who have been on hunger strike and are now being force-fed twice daily because of body weight loss.
THE PETITION CAN BE VIEWED AND SIGNED AT
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Forced_feeding_in_Guantanamo/?email
Below is the e-mail I received which prompted me to start the petition:
THE PETITION CAN BE VIEWED AND SIGNED AT
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Forced_feeding_in_Guantanamo/?email
Below is the e-mail I received which prompted me to start the petition:
Subject: A message from Gitmo, Force-Feeding Video, & CA Hunger Strike Day 152 of the Guantanamo Hunger Strike Dear Friends: One hundred fifty-two days into the hunger strike and now weeks past President Obama's renewed promise to close the prison at Guantanamo remains in a state of moral, political, and medical emergency. More than 40 men are being force-fed, in a practice condemned by human rights organizations, medical professionals, and even the head of the US Senate Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). But the resolve of the detained men remains unbroken, as they endure hunger, illness, and new forms of torture in their bid for justice. Inspired by their resistance, the world community continues to speak out. This morning, the actor and rap artist Yasiin Bay (aka Mos Def), teaming up with the UK's Reprieve, released a video showing Bay being force-fed according to the precise guidelines for force feeding at Guantanamo.
[WATCH: Mos Def Undergoes Force-Feeding To Protest Gunatanamo Prison ]
An attorney for several men at Guantanamo recently wrote Witness
Against Torture to say:
"I was at GTMO all week meeting with clients. I wanted to share with
you the following words from . . . Moath al-Alwi, a Yemeni national
who has been in U.S. custody without fair process since 2002.
Moath was one of the very first prisoners to reach GTMO, where the
U.S. military assigned him Internment Serial Number (ISN 028). He has
been on hunger strike since February and the U.S. military is now
force-feeding him. Moath shared the following during our meeting,
translated as accurately as I could from the Arabic:
"I recently had an interesting conversation with one of the Navy
officers in charge of my force-feeding here at Guantanamo. He told he
was here to make sure I was treated humanely as I was being force-fed.
So I answered through the interpreter, saying:
"What I am enduring now is torture and the American people will tell
you as much. Humanitarian organizations, various human rights bodies,
as well as American groups such as Witness Against Torture and Doctors
Without Borders have all declared that what is taking place at
Guantanamo is a violation of human rights and that it amounts to
torture.
"The officer's face changed and he walked away."
The men at GTMO are fully aware of your work and their eyes literally
tear up when I describe the various protest actions you and your
fellow activists have undertaken in solidarity with their plight. To
say they are grateful would be an understatement.
*****
Our eyes fill with tears as we contemplate the significance of what
Moath shared: that our actions however inadequate we feel them to be
help the men at Guantanamo resist assaults on their dignity and
confront their persecutors, with added confidence in the justice of
their position and the world's concern for their plight. There can be
no greater affirmation of the value of our efforts, nor greater
motivation for us to work harder."
END OF E-MAIL
