Gitmo detainee appeals judge’s ruling on force-feeding
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Version 0 of 1. A Guantanamo Bay detainee is appealing a D.C. federal judge’s decision to allow military officials to force feed him in a way he considers torturous during his intermittent hunger strikes. Lawyers for 43-year-old Abu Wa’el Dhiab hope an appeals court will overturn the decision by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who late last week rejected their bid to modify the way their client is force fed. Dhiab, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and has been detained since without any charges filed against him, had wanted Kessler not to stop the force-feeding altogether, but to change the way the feedings were carried out. He wanted, for example, the feedings to be conducted using a one-point, rather than a five-point, restraint. He also wanted the feeding tube to be left in for three days at a time to reduce the frequency with which it was inserted and removed from his nose. Kessler rejected all of his requests. It is possible that the dispute will become moot, should U.S. officials move Dhiab from the military prison in Cuba. Dhiab has been cleared for release since 2009, and government officials have identified Uruguay as a possible spot for his resettlement. |