Guantanamo captives perform collective prayers. (File photo)<\/p>\n
A hunger strike by prisoners at the US-run Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba has entered its 101st day, amid national and international calls for the closure of the notorious prison.\n<\/p>\n
Nearly 130 out of a total of 166 inmates in the military detention and torture center were reported to be still on hunger strike on Friday.\n<\/p>\n
The strike began in February in protest to mistreatment by prison guards who intimidate the detainees by searching their personal belongings and deliberately mishandling their copies of the holy Qur\u00e2\u201e\u00a2an.\n<\/p>\n
American authorities have responded by force-feeding the detainees regardless of criticism by UN officials and human rights organizations worldwide.\n<\/p>\n
The prison camp remains fully operational despite US President Barack Obama’s repeated promises to shut it down.\n<\/p>\n
On Thursday, attorney for one of the inmates revealed deliberate abuse and torture tactics having been used against the detainees to dissuade them from contacting their lawyers.\n<\/p>\n
Clive Stafford Smith, attorney for several Guantanamo captives and founder of legal group, Reprieve, elaborated on some of the abusive tactics used against inmates at the notorious detention and torture camp, including humiliating invasive body searches, which he describes as \u00c5\u201csexual assault,\u201d that they have to undergo before being authorized to make telephone contact with their attorneys.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWhen my clients are coming to have a telephone call with me, they can\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t smuggle anything on a telephone line,\u201d said Smith in an interview with Russia Today.\n<\/p>\n
He added, \u00c5\u201cAnd so the idea that they threaten the prisoners with full body search — and I won\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t go into the really graphic part — it\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s basically a sexual assault; is just a threat to try to get them not to talk to us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
MAM\/KA\/SS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n