Gitmo hunger strike in 56th day

"Amnesty International and human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, a lawyer representing some 40 detainees, said on Thursday that U.S. authorities were keeping 21 alive by forcing food into their stomachs through tubes pushed up their noses.

The prisoners were on the 56th day of their strike and were shackled to their beds 24 hours a day to stop them removing the tubes, Stafford Smith said.

Force-feeding is not banned under international law, but the World Medical Association declaration, endorsed by the American Medical Association, sets guidelines for doctors involved in hunger strikes and says they should not participate in force-feeding.

The United States opened Guantanamo in January 2002. Many detainees were seized in Afghanistan. Only four of the

prisoners there have been charged and many have been held more than three years. Some former prisoners have said they were tortured.">Top News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "Amnesty International and human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, a lawyer representing some 40 detainees, said on Thursday that U.S. authorities were keeping 21 alive by forcing food into their stomachs through tubes pushed up their noses.

The prisoners were on the 56th day of their strike and were shackled to their beds 24 hours a day to stop them removing the tubes, Stafford Smith said.

Force-feeding is not banned under international law, but the World Medical Association declaration, endorsed by the American Medical Association, sets guidelines for doctors involved in hunger strikes and says they should not participate in force-feeding.

The United States opened Guantanamo in January 2002. Many detainees were seized in Afghanistan. Only four of the

prisoners there have been charged and many have been held more than three years. Some former prisoners have said they were tortured."