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.
[It's not clear whether the photos in the following two links are the photos referred to in the article above. -Ed.]
Guantanamo Joint Medical Group Hunger Strike Response Photos
Photo Gallery | Guantánamo hunger strike