SherriMunnerlyn
VIP Member
- Jun 11, 2012
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Moath al-Alwi: " Hunger Striking Only Way Left To Cry Out For Life Freedom& Dignity
"A detainee at the US prison explains that hunger striking is the only way left to cry out for life, freedom and dignity. Moath al-Alwi is a Yemeni national who has been in US custody since 2002. He was one of the very first prisoners moved to Guantanamo, where the US military assigned him the Internment Serial Number 028. My name is Moath al-Alwi. I have been a prisoner of the United States at Guantanamo since 2002. I was never charged with any crime and I have not received a fair trial in US courts. To protest this injustice, I began a hunger strike in February. Now, twice a day, the US military straps me down to a chair and pushes a thick tube down my nose to force-feed me. When I choose to remain in my cell in an act of peaceful protest against the force-feeding, the prison authorities send in a Forced Cell Extraction team: six guards in full riot gear. Those guards are deliberately brutal to punish me for my protest. They pile up on top of me to the point that I feel like my back is about to break. They then carry me out and strap me into the restraint chair, which we hunger strikers call the torture chair.The US military medical staff conducting the force-feeding at Guantanamo is basically stuffing us prisoners to bring up our weight mine had dropped from 168 pounds to 108 pounds, before they began force-feeding me. They even use constipation as a weapon, refusing to give hunger strikers laxatives despite the fact that the feeding solutions inevitably cause severe bloating. If a prisoner vomits after this ordeal, the guards immediately return him to the restraint chair for another round of force-feeding. Ive seen this inflicted on people up to three times in a row.Even vital medications for prisoners have been stopped by military medical personnel as additional pressure to break the hunger strike.Those military doctors and nurses tell us that they are simply obeying orders from the colonel in charge of detention operations, as though that officer were a doctor or as if doctors had to follow his orders rather than their medical ethics or the law.Those of you on the outside might find that difficult to comprehend. My family certainly does. If Im lucky, Im allowed four calls with them each year. My mother spent most of my most recent call pleading with me to stop my hunger strike. I had only this to say in response: Mom, I have no choice. It isthe only way I have left to cry out for life freedom and dignity. " Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network » My life at Guantánamo Imagine being held without charge since 2002, most of the time kept in solitary confinement, never being charged with a crime, not being allowed to see your family, not knowing if you will ever be released from unlawful US detention, and coming to believe the only avenue left to express your desire to live and desire for justice is by embracing a hunger strike! Imagine being force fed, an act unlawful under intl law and even declared to constitute torture by a US Court! Sherri
"A detainee at the US prison explains that hunger striking is the only way left to cry out for life, freedom and dignity. Moath al-Alwi is a Yemeni national who has been in US custody since 2002. He was one of the very first prisoners moved to Guantanamo, where the US military assigned him the Internment Serial Number 028. My name is Moath al-Alwi. I have been a prisoner of the United States at Guantanamo since 2002. I was never charged with any crime and I have not received a fair trial in US courts. To protest this injustice, I began a hunger strike in February. Now, twice a day, the US military straps me down to a chair and pushes a thick tube down my nose to force-feed me. When I choose to remain in my cell in an act of peaceful protest against the force-feeding, the prison authorities send in a Forced Cell Extraction team: six guards in full riot gear. Those guards are deliberately brutal to punish me for my protest. They pile up on top of me to the point that I feel like my back is about to break. They then carry me out and strap me into the restraint chair, which we hunger strikers call the torture chair.The US military medical staff conducting the force-feeding at Guantanamo is basically stuffing us prisoners to bring up our weight mine had dropped from 168 pounds to 108 pounds, before they began force-feeding me. They even use constipation as a weapon, refusing to give hunger strikers laxatives despite the fact that the feeding solutions inevitably cause severe bloating. If a prisoner vomits after this ordeal, the guards immediately return him to the restraint chair for another round of force-feeding. Ive seen this inflicted on people up to three times in a row.Even vital medications for prisoners have been stopped by military medical personnel as additional pressure to break the hunger strike.Those military doctors and nurses tell us that they are simply obeying orders from the colonel in charge of detention operations, as though that officer were a doctor or as if doctors had to follow his orders rather than their medical ethics or the law.Those of you on the outside might find that difficult to comprehend. My family certainly does. If Im lucky, Im allowed four calls with them each year. My mother spent most of my most recent call pleading with me to stop my hunger strike. I had only this to say in response: Mom, I have no choice. It isthe only way I have left to cry out for life freedom and dignity. " Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network » My life at Guantánamo Imagine being held without charge since 2002, most of the time kept in solitary confinement, never being charged with a crime, not being allowed to see your family, not knowing if you will ever be released from unlawful US detention, and coming to believe the only avenue left to express your desire to live and desire for justice is by embracing a hunger strike! Imagine being force fed, an act unlawful under intl law and even declared to constitute torture by a US Court! Sherri
