Obama News: A Living Diary of the Obama Presidency - POLITICO44 - POLITICO.com
John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:
Two veteran Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein of California and Dick Durbin of Illinois, are urging President Barack Obama to rein in force feeding of hunger-striking inmates at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects.
"We write to urge you to use your Presidential authority to end the unnecessary force-feedings of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the senators wrote Wednesday in a letter to Obama.
As Feinstein did in a letter sent to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last month, the senators stopped short of saying Guantanamo prisoners should never be force fed, but argued the current policy is simply too aggressive.
"We...encourage you to direct the Department of Defense to stop conducting such large-scale force-feedings and, where force-feeding is medically necessary to save a detainee’s life, to observe the protections required at U.S. Bureau of Prisons facilities. It is our understanding that the U.S. federal prison guidelines for force-feedings include several safeguards and oversight mechanisms that are not in place at Guantanamo Bay," Feinstein and Durbin wrote.
The new letter (posted here) also refers to an order a federal judge issued Monday, rejecting a bid to halt the force feedings during Ramadan but urging Obama to "address" the issue.
At last count, the Pentagon said 106 of the 166 prisoners were on hunger strike (as the military defines it) and 45 prisoners were being force fed.
"The growing problem of hunger strikes is due to the fact that many detainees have remained in legal limbo for more than a decade and have given up hope," Feinstein and Durbin wrote. "This should be alarming to all of us, and it is imperative that the Administration outline a formal process to permanently close the Guantanamo facility as soon as possible. We look forward to continue working with you to achieve that end."
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