Lawyers sceptical over news that 96 prisoners remain on strike, down from a recent high of 106
The number of Guantánamo Bay inmates on hunger strike has begun to fall, with most having consumed at least one meal over a 24-hour period, the US military suggested in comments that met with suspicion from detainee advocates. As of Saturday, 96 prisoners were still classified as hunger strikers – down six from Friday and below a recent high of 106.
In a further apparent indication that the five-month-long action may be ebbing, an army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sam House, said on Friday that over a 24-hour period 99 of the then 102 detainees taking part on the strike had eaten a meal. Forty-five, however, remain on the force-feed list and lawyers for some of those taking part in the strike suggested that authorities had consistently under-counted the true number of those refusing meals.
Guards at Guantánamo require several days of sustained eating of minimal caloric intake before prisoners are taken off the list of hunger-strikers. Those subjected to enteral feeding are put on a controlled re-introduction of regular meals to avert "re-feeding syndrome", which can affect people who suddenly resume eating.
It was not made immediately clear on Saturday if the apparent drop in numbers represented early signs of the protest being on the wane, or if prisoners were taking a pause, possibly coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A Guantánamo Bay spokesman, navy Captain Robert Durand, confirmed that most of the 166 prisoners still at the controversial detention camp took part in a meal of lamb to break the first day of the traditional period of fasting from dawn to sunset. He also suggested that the period had been unusually peaceful and largely free of conflict between guards and prisoners.
"We are just pleased that they are for the most part eating and for the most part we are having good order and discipline in the camps," Durand said. But he did not rule out the possibility that the number of those taking part in an action – which has drawn renewed worldwide attention to the plight of detainees at the camp – would rise on the conclusion of Ramadan.
"I don't pretend to understand the psychology of the detainees and they don't always necessarily declare their motives," he said.
Lawyers suggested that authorities could be undercounting the number of hunger-strikers still at the camp.
"All I hear from my clients is that they are going to keep going and they are not going to stop," said David Remes, who represents five prisoners being force-fed.
Carlos Warner, who acts on behalf of 11 prisoners, said: "They [the authorities] have tried to downplay this from the beginning."
Lawyers have also complained that a list of names of those taking part in the strike has been repeatedly censored. Shaker Aamer – who has spent more than 11 years at Guantánamo despite never being charged with any crime – has twice tried to provide a list to his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith. But on both occasions, army censors have deleted the names.
Stafford Smith said: "What is the US government trying to hide? This is just one of a host of measures the staff at Guantánamo have engaged in to try to conceal the strike and break the strikers. President Obama could start releasing cleared hunger-strikers like Shaker from Guantánamo tomorrow if he had the political courage."
In a letter dated 14 June, Aamer suggested that the true number of those taking part is higher than authorities admit. "I know for sure the number of hunger strikers is more than 120," he wrote, at a time when the official count was 104.