Nurse Refuses Navy's Force-Feeding of Gitmo Prisoners
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/07/16-1
Guantanamo force feeding paraphernalia.
Nurse Refuses Navy's Force-Feeding of Gitmo Prisoners
- Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Published on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 by Common Dreams
A nurse in the U.S. Navy has refused to participate in the force-feeding of hunger striking detainees in what is the first widely-reported act of defiance on ethical grounds by a U.S. military service member at this offshore prison.
This is a historic stand by this nurse, who recognized the basic humanity of the detainees and the inhumanity of what he was being asked to do," said Cori Crider, a lawyer for UK-based charity Reprievewhich refers to the refusal as 'conscientious objection.' Crider learned of the act of refusal in a July 10 phone call with Abu Wael Dhiaba Syrian man currently detained in Guantánamo Bayand the news broke to the media on Tuesday.
The unidentified nurse told Dhiab, I have come to the decision that I refuse to participate in this criminal act," according to a press statement from Reprieve. Before we came here, we were told a different story," the nurse added. "The story we were told was completely the opposite of what I saw."
Journalist Carol Rosenberg received confirmation from Navy Capt. Tom Gresback that there was a recent instance of a medical provider not willing to carry out the enteral feeding of a detainee.