Hunger strike might be near end


MIAMI — Most prisoners on the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay have resumed eating, the U.S. military said yesterday, suggesting a possible end, or at least a pause, to a protest that brought renewed attention to their indefinite detention at the base in Cuba.


They still were considered hunger-strikers because the military requires several days of sustained eating and a minimum caloric intake before a prisoner is removed from the list. In addition, some men were receiving meals in a controlled manner because they had been receiving liquid nutrients and can’t safely resume consuming food at a normal pace, House said.



Durand declined to speculate about whether the hunger strike might flare again after Ramadan. “I don’t pretend to understand the psychology of the detainees, and they don’t always necessarily declare their motives.”

Another possible factor is that prison officials recently allowed dozens of the men to return to communal living, under certain restrictions, including that they refrain from hunger-striking.

The military said 45 of the prisoners were still on the “enteral feed list,” meaning they can be strapped down and fed a liquid nutrient mix through a nasogastric tube. A federal judge on Monday called it a “painful, humiliating and degrading process” in a ruling in which she said she had no authority to order it stopped.

The military has said it would carry out the feedings only at night during Ramadan out of respect for the prisoners’ religious beliefs.