Guantanamo Detainees Cleared For Release Take Part In Hunger Strike
NEW YORK -- They are free to go, but they're going nowhere.
One of the reasons the United States prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is in the midst of a major hunger strike, with at least 100 detainees taking part, is that most of the prisoners there are already cleared for release. By the Obama administration's own accounting, some 86 of the 166 detainees at Guantanamo are eligible for release or transfer to other countries' custody. But because the administration hasn't been willing or able to find places to send them, no detainee has been released in more than a year, when two ethnic Uighurs from China were sent to El Salvador.
Through statements released by their lawyers and communications from the detainees themselves, The Huffington Post was able to identify the names of 12 cleared detainees, of the 56 publicly identified, who have reportedly taken part in the hunger strike. Their stories are below. Many more cleared prisoners not identified here have likely joined the hunger strike.
More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/guantanamo-hunger-strike-renews-debates-over-indefinite-detention-ethics-of-force-feeding/2013/05/02/8b4df278-b289-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html