(Photo: Justin Norman/cc/flickr)“The administration is getting ever more angry and doing everything they can to break our hunger strike. Honestly, I wish I was dead.” –Guantánamo prisoner Shaker Aamer
Aamer, among the over 100 inmates at the prison on hunger strike, detailed the escalating brutality officials at the prison are meting out in a effort to break the months-long hunger strike.
Techniques include making cells “freezing cold” to accentuate the discomfort of those on hunger strike and the introduction of “metal-tipped” feeding tubes, which Aamer said were forced into inmates’ stomachs twice a day and caused detainees to vomit over themselves.
The 46-year-old from London tells of one detainee who was admitted to hospital 10 days ago after a nurse had pushed the tube into his lungs rather than his stomach, causing him later to cough up blood. Aamer also alleges that some nurses at Guantánamo Bay are refusing to wear their name tags in order to prevent detainees registering abuse complaints against staff.
The British resident, who has been cleared for release by both the Bush and Obama administrations, has spent over 11 years at the prison without trial.
Aamer’s testimony was given to the Observer by Clive Stafford Smith, his U.S. attorney and the director of the UK-based Reprieve, who said, “These gruesome new details show just how bad things are in Guantánamo. The whole thing is at breaking point. Clearly the US military is under enormous pressure and doing everything it can to hurt the men and break the hunger strike.”
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This article originally appeared on: Common Dreams