Huffington Magazine Issue 52 | Page 66

THE HUNGER GAMES AT GUANTANAMO liquid nutritional supplement — Ensure, Pulmocare, Glucerna or TwoCal HN — into the stomachs of those being force-fed. Camp Six’s medical personnel used to give the detainees their choice of Ensure — butter pecan, vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. Now, those being force-fed are not allowed to select the flavor they’ll have hosed into their stomachs. “Detainees have the right to peacefully protest,” said Guantanamo spokesman Lt. Col. Samuel House. But, he said, “We will not allow a detainee to starve them- HUFFINGTON 06.09.13 selves to death, and we will continue to treat each person humanely.” Fayiz al Kandari, one of the detainees being force-feed, complained through his lawyer, Carlos Warner, that medical officials were using a feeding tube that was too large, and that he was not able to breathe. He said his request for the doctors to use a smaller tube was denied. Roughly two-thirds of those being force-fed “accept their nutritional supplement voluntarily,” according to House, meaning the emaciated men don’t actively fight the inevitable. Even those detainees who cooperate are strapped down into a chair with built-in restraints for the arms, legs and torso. Those A guard monitors prison cell activity through surveillance cameras in Camp Six.