Lauren Carasik the American Professor and nationally recognized expert in the field of disability law has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘When fear eclipses justice, we all lose: Shutter Guantanamo now’ stating the US intransigence on Guantanamo issue is counterproductive, as it only serves to stoke animosity and contempt. In the article Carasik states “Eleven years into their incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, many desperate detainees are exerting what little control they still exert over their lives: they are refusing to eat. As word of the hunger strikes began trickling out of the prison in February, lawyers for the detainees became increasingly alarmed at the harrowing conditions their clients were reporting. Even now a vast discrepancy separates the official story and what numerous counsels have witnessed and heard firsthand from their clients. According to various detainees, the roots of the resistance originated when the prison authorities seemed to revert to their pre-Obama levels of brutality.  Cells were searched, family photos and other cherished, tangible reminders of life before Guantanamo were confiscated and harsh treatment ensued. Perhaps more upsetting to detainees was that Qurans were rifled through in a manner detainees had repeatedly denounced as desecration of their holy book. The justification centred on arguments that such searches were necessary security measures, though detainees were reportedly willing to surrender their Qurans instead of having them subjected to search, while observing that hiding items in the Quran would violate their religious practices. …According to lawyers for the detainees, after almost two months of striking, the health of the men is deteriorating rapidly, and others are already in critical condition. Medical experts warn that long-term hunger strikes can cause severe and irreversible physiological and neurological damage, which is compounded by the psychological distress of indefinite detention and isolation. An unconfirmed number of detainees are prepared to die, and may in fact prefer death to living their remaining years within the confines of Guantanamo. The US can and must act: if it has any hope of regaining its moral authority, these men should not be reduced to a despair so profound that they feel their only way out of Guantanamo is in a coffin.”  Inspired by Lauren Carasik, Aljazeera ow.ly/k6H4b Image source WNE ow.ly/k6HA7 When fear eclipses justice we all lose (May 10 2013)

 

Lauren Carasik the American Professor and nationally recognized expert in the field of disability law has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘When fear eclipses justice, we all lose: Shutter Guantanamo now’ stating the US intransigence on Guantanamo issue is counterproductive, as it only serves to stoke animosity and contempt. In the article Carasik states “Eleven years into their incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, many desperate detainees are exerting what little control they still exert over their lives: they are refusing to eat. As word of the hunger strikes began trickling out of the prison in February, lawyers for the detainees became increasingly alarmed at the harrowing conditions their clients were reporting. Even now a vast discrepancy separates the official story and what numerous counsels have witnessed and heard firsthand from their clients. According to various detainees, the roots of the resistance originated when the prison authorities seemed to revert to their pre-Obama levels of brutality.  Cells were searched, family photos and other cherished, tangible reminders of life before Guantanamo were confiscated and harsh treatment ensued. Perhaps more upsetting to detainees was that Qurans were rifled through in a manner detainees had repeatedly denounced as desecration of their holy book. The justification centred on arguments that such searches were necessary security measures, though detainees were reportedly willing to surrender their Qurans instead of having them subjected to search, while observing that hiding items in the Quran would violate their religious practices. …According to lawyers for the detainees, after almost two months of striking, the health of the men is deteriorating rapidly, and others are already in critical condition. Medical experts warn that long-term hunger strikes can cause severe and irreversible physiological and neurological damage, which is compounded by the psychological distress of indefinite detention and isolation. An unconfirmed number of detainees are prepared to die, and may in fact prefer death to living their remaining years within the confines of Guantanamo. The US can and must act: if it has any hope of regaining its moral authority, these men should not be reduced to a despair so profound that they feel their only way out of Guantanamo is in a coffin.”

 

Inspired by Lauren Carasik, Aljazeera ow.ly/k6H4b Image source WNE ow.ly/k6HA7