Monday, October 17, 2005

Guantanamo medics accused of abusive force-feeding

(PBU42)
US military medics have attempted to dissuade Guantanamo Bay detainees from continuing a hunger strike by forcing finger-thick feeding tubes through their noses without painkillers, lawyers for the detainees told a federal judge yesterday.

Military medics have also recycled dirty feeding tubes used on other prisoners, the lawyers claimed, relaying what they were told by their clients. Calling the alleged practices abusive, the attorneys asked US District Judge Gladys Kessler to order the military to turn over their clients' medical records and to allow an outside doctor to examine the detainees.