A Federal District Court judge has lifted an order barring the military from force-feeding a hunger-striking Guantánamo detainee. Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, a 42-year-old Syrian citizen, has been held at Guantánamo for 11 years and nine months.
The judge "sharply rebuked the Obama administration for refusing to compromise over procedures she said caused "agony."
Charlie Savage for the New York Times:
Judge Gladys Kessler said ruling that she faced "an anguishing Hobson's choice" involving the detainee, Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab: to keep the order in place as the legal fight continues and risk that he dies, or to lift it and allow the military to take steps to keep him alive using procedures that inflict "unnecessary" suffering.
"The court simply cannot let Mr. Dhiab die," she wrote, using an alternate spelling for the detainee's name.
The force-feeding procedure involves strapping a detainee into a restraint chair and inserting a tube through his nose and down his throat. Liquid nutritional supplement is then poured into his stomach. Mr. Diyab, 42, a Syrian who has been held without charges at Guantánamo for nearly 12 years, was recommended for transfer in 2009-10 by a task force.
