May, 21 2014, 04:39pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Reprieve's London office can be contacted on: communications [at] reprieve.org.uk / +44 (0) 207 553 8140.,Reprieve US,, based in New York City, can be contacted on Katherine [dot] oshea [at] reprieve.org
Judge Orders US Government to Release Guantanamo Force-Feeding Videotapes to Prisoner's Lawyers
A federal court judge today ordered the US government to produce 34 videotapes showing Guantanamo prisoner Abu Wa'el Diab being forcibly dragged from his cell, and then being force-fed.
Judge Gladys Kessler did not require the government to hand over all 136 videos of Mr. Dhiab being subjected to the 'Forcible Cell Extraction' process - which has been done to him on average three times a week for a full year.
LONDON
A federal court judge today ordered the US government to produce 34 videotapes showing Guantanamo prisoner Abu Wa'el Diab being forcibly dragged from his cell, and then being force-fed.
Judge Gladys Kessler did not require the government to hand over all 136 videos of Mr. Dhiab being subjected to the 'Forcible Cell Extraction' process - which has been done to him on average three times a week for a full year.
The court also ordered the government to produce Mr. Dhiab's medical records - noting that they are, after all, his own records. These records should allow the court to make a proper assessment of the traumatic impact of force-feeding on Mr Dhiab's declining health. For the time being, the existing injunction remains in place.
Today's hearing marked the first time the US government has been ordered to give detainees' lawyers videotapes of force-feedings.
Cori Crider, strategic director of Reprieve, said: "Mr. Dhiab has been cleared for transfer from Guantanamo Bay for several years now, and yet promises of his imminent release have come to nothing, so it is not surprising that he has gone on a peaceful hunger strike in desperation. It is very encouraging that the rule of law is finally coming to Guantanamo, so that perhaps Mr. Dhiab's situation can be resolved. While the photographic evidence of his abuse is secret, it will at least allow the judge to see what is happening to him."
Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
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