Media: Release Gitmo videotapes

Media outlets in the United States on Monday demanded the immediate release of Guantanamo force-feeding videos, despite the US government’s appeal to a court.

Washington claims that releasing the videos would compromise national security.

A US federal judge had ordered the government to publicly release videotapes of a Syrian hunger-striking prisoner who was force-fed at the notorious US-run Guantanamo prison in early October.

The court is due to rule on the tapes’ release in the beginning of November.

Rear Admiral Kyle Cozad, the commander of the US Guantanamo joint task force, said, “Releasing the videos as the court has ordered will give rise to security and operational harms” to the Guantanamo operation.

He added that the videos show Abu Wa’el Dhiab being force-fed and the location of prison guards and the room used during the practice.

Forty-three-year-old Dhiab from Syria started his hunger strike 18 months ago to protest his indefinite confinement without charge. He is protesting force-feeding procedures administered by prison authorities. Lawyers for the prisoner said his treatment was abusive.

“It is hard to imagine a more explicit description of the process utilized than that which is found on videotapes of the actual execution,” Cozad said.

The 16 news groups said the videos have been withheld for other reasons.

“This is a case of the government seeking secrecy to prevent accountability, not to protect national security,” said the news outlets, which include The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian.

“There is no imminent threat of a public release that might compromise national security,” they argued in a court document.

Dozens of prisoners at Guantanamo have engaged in hunger strikes for years to protest their confinement.

However, US officials no longer disclose how many of the 149 prisoners at the base are on hunger strike and meet the guidelines for force-feeding.

GJH/GJH