A. Medical personnel at the detention camp monitor those participating in the hunger strike. If necessary, officials order the forced feeding of detainees to prevent them from starving themselves to death. Reports are that 21 detainees presently are being force-fed.
This is accomplished by restraining the detainee twice a day and inserting a tube down the nose and throat. A serving of the liquid nutrition-supplement Ensure is then directed into the detainee’s stomach through the tube. The tube is withdrawn. The detainee remains restrained for a period of time to allow digestion and prevent any effort by the detainee to vomit. Five detainees are being hospitalized.
The president of the American Medical Association has said that the “forced feeding of detainees violates core ethical values of the medical profession.”
Detainees have complained that officials are intentionally using larger than necessary feeding tubes to make the forced-feeding process as painful as possible and to punish the detainees.
The atmosphere at the detention camp is described as tense. On April 13, guards allegedly used tear gas and rubber bullets in an operation designed to respond to detainees covering surveillance cameras in their cells. Officials say some detainees attempted to resist the guards by wielding broomsticks.
