Hunger Strike by Guantanamo Detainees Enters Second Month

Interview with Tom Wilner, attorney representing 11 Guantanamo Bay prisoners, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Photos depicting the mistreatment and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners held in the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison erupted into an international scandal when first published in the spring of 2004. Now, in the last of a series of trials conducted against nine low-level soldiers accused of prisoner abuse at Abu-Ghraib, Army Pfc. Lynndie England has been convicted of maltreating detainees, committing an indecent act and conspiracy. The 22-year-old, now awaiting sentencing, faces up to nine years in prison.

New allegations of torture at U.S.-run detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan have surfaced in a report issued by Human Rights Watch based on the accounts of two soldiers and an officer with the 82nd Airborne Division. The report describes widespread abuse and asserts that low-ranking soldiers have been held responsible for acts that officers condoned.

Tom Wilner, is an attorney representing 11 Kuwaitis held in detention at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He filed suit on their behalf in May 2002, maintaining they had a right to challenge their detention in court. In June of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor, but the Bush administration has interpreted the ruling so narrowly that it has effectively negated the detainees' rights. Wilner argued some specifics of the case again on Sept. 8, and a ruling is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals. In protest of their indefinite imprisonment without charge or the prospect of a trial, at least 128, or nearly one-quarter of all detainees at Guantanamo have undertaken a hunger strike. Press reports state that 18 prisoners have been force-fed in a hospital since the strike began Aug. 8. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Wilner about the legal odyssey of his clients, and the significance of the hunger strike.

For more information, contact the Center for Constitutional Rights at (212) 614-6464 or visit the group's website at: www.ccr-ny.org

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