Two Guantanamo detainees accept first meals in two weeks, breaking long-standing hunger strike

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Posted 4:15PM on Wednesday, March 13, 2002

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Two detainees captured in the war in Afghanistan have broken their two-week hunger strike, eating twice in a 24-hour period, military officials said Wednesday. The pair, who hadn't eaten since at least March 1, ate two meals sometime between mid-afternoon Tuesday and mid-afternoon Wednesday, said Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert. A third detainee began eating again on Monday. All three men were still refusing some meals. "I would characterize the current situation as one where we still have three individuals who are hard-core," Lehnert said. "While they have eaten, they are fasting." A broader hunger strike began on Feb. 27 after guards stripped an inmate of his turban, but military officials say participants have said their primary concern is their murky future. At one point during the protest, there were 194 refusing food but drinking water. Still, the inmates have each gained an average of 10 pounds since their detention at the base began in January, said Marine Maj. Stephen Cox, a spokesman. "We're not saying that the hunger strike is over because some of them are still refusing to eat all of their food," Cox said. "But it appears to be diminishing and we're monitoring it." Out of the 300 detainees being held at this remote military base on the eastern tip of Cuba, between 10 and 20 have consistently refused at least one of their daily meals in recent days. Cox said he could not give a figure for the number who skipped breakfast or lunch Wednesday. The military says the detainees include fighters of the al-Qaida terrorist network and the fallen Afghan Taliban regime. U.S. officials are determining whether and how to prosecute the men, and say those not tried by a military tribunal empowered to order the death penalty could be prosecuted in U.S. courts, returned to their home countries for prosecution, held indefinitely or released outright.