This Friday will mark the 100th day of the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay prison, where 100 detainees are now on strike. Thirty of the detainees are being force-fed through a nasal tube, a practice the American Medical Association called “a violation of medical ethics.”
On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said the White House remained committed to closing Guantanamo and that they were “in the process” of looking at candidates to help clear and close the facility.
On Wednesday, the Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg joined the NOW with Alex Wagner panel to discuss the climate at Guantanamo, the ongoing hunger strike, and President Obama’s options. Rosenberg has been reporting from Guantanamo since 2002.
“Guantanamo now is pretty grim,” Rosenberg said. “The vast majority of the 166 men are under lock-down. That means single cell detention, inside their own cell 22 hours a day. Twenty-four if they choose not to go to recreation and they’re not force-fed.”
“This is a very different Guantanamo than during much of the Obama administration,” Rosenberg said, “it was during the Bush years that they were under this kind of lockdown.”
In the absence of a Guantanamo Envoy, Rosenberg said, “it’s hard to imagine this stalemate, this stand-off, this hunger strike, will be resolved.“
Allison MacDonald