Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Diaspora, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, has called for an end to force feeding prisoners on hunger strike in Guant\u00e1namo, negotiations to end the hunger strikes to begin, and for the prisoners who are cleared for release to be freed.<\/p>\n
Deputy Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment there are reportedly 100 prisoners on hunger strike in the Guant\u00e1namo Bay Detention Centre, some since February 2013. There are a total of 166 prisoners in Guant\u00e1namo and the majority of them have been imprisoned for more than eleven years without any charge or fair trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt recent weeks the reported hunger strike of 100 prisoners and the reported force feeding of 21 hunger strikers via nasal tubes, is torture. It is cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, and therefore a human rights violation. This week the UN Commission for Human Rights stated that this force-feeding is ethically and legally unjustifiable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN, legal experts, and aid agencies have also all stated that the continued detention of so many people without trial in Guant\u00e1namo is a clear violation of international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the NGO, Human Rights First<\/i>, 86 prisoners at Guant\u00e1namo have been cleared for release but have not been freed because of restrictions imposed by Congress. Many believe that one of the main causes of the hunger strike is that prisoners who should be released have lost hope that they will ever be freed, and because of the draconian treatment they receive from guards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am calling on President Obama to immediately intervene and start negotiations between the American Government and the hunger strikers and their lawyers, to find a mutually agreeable solution to end this hunger strike and force feeding before someone dies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also calling on President Obama to bring Guant\u00e1namo\u2019s closure and policy under the purview of the White House and not the Pentagon, and begin certifying those 86 prisoners cleared for release but still in detention, so that they can be freed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll other prisoners should face a free and fair civilian trial or be released, and the Guant\u00e1namo Detention Centre should be shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Diaspora, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, has called for an end to force feeding prisoners on hunger strike in Guant\u00e1namo, negotiations to end the hunger strikes to begin, and for the prisoners who are cleared for release to be freed. Deputy Crowe said: \u201cAt the moment there are reportedly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}