Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2013
2. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the ongoing hunger strikes in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility; if his attention has been drawn to the force feeding of some hunger strikers; and if he has raised this issue with the American Government. [23370/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am being kept informed of developments relating to the hunger strike which is taking place at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. I have made clear on many occasions my view that the centre should be closed and that the detainees should be either brought to trial or released as soon as possible. I discussed this issue with Hillary Clinton when she was US Secretary of State. It is also mentioned regularly in discussions between Irish and US officials and between the EU and the US. I will mention it when I next meet US Secretary of State Kerry. President Obama has made a political commitment to close the centre. I very much welcome this, along with his indication last week that he will make renewed efforts to secure closure.
I understand that approximately 100 of the detainees are currently on hunger strike. This is a difficult and delicate situation. I hope it will be handled in a humane and sensitive manner and that the rights of those involved - including that to peaceful protest - will be fully respected. We all wish to see a peaceful outcome without loss of life. I also understand that the US Government has confirmed that a number of the hunger strikers are being force-fed through tubes. I am concerned at this development because I have profound reservations about this practice from an ethical standpoint. I hope the use of force-feeding will be reconsidered and discontinued immediately.
My original question inquired as to whether the Tánaiste had raised this matter with the relevant authorities. From his reply, I take it he intends to do so at some point in the future. Tomorrow will be the 100th day of the hunger strike. The Tánaiste is correct in stating that prisoners are being force-fed. This new element has brought the reality of what is happening to many people. As a result of our own history and the experience of the suffragettes, Irish trade unionists and Irish republican prisoners, we are aware of the effects of force-feeding. Essentially, this process involves strapping the person to a chair, forcing a tube down his or her throat and then holding his or her nose. I spoke to one prisoner, Mr. Gerry Kelly, MLA, who underwent this procedure and I am aware that what those who are subjected to it are forced to endure is absolutely horrifying. Michael Gaughan, an Irish hunger striker in the 1970s, was force-fed by the authorities in Britain and ended up dying of pneumonia. Thomas Ashe, another hunger striker who was subjected to this procedure in 1917, died as a result of the fact that material entered his lungs.
The UN has condemned force-feeding on humanitarian grounds. This matter needs to be raised at some level, perhaps even at the UN. Everyone agrees that the Guantanamo Bay facility should be closed. I am concerned by that fact that as a result of their utter despair, the prisoners there felt they had no option but to go on hunger strike.
Some 66 of the prisoners have been cleared by the President Obama regime, but there appears to be no mechanism for their release. Many have been there for 11 years and believe that their only options are to leave dead in a box or to take this approach of forcing a change.
I have already raised the issue of the closure of Guantanamo at Secretary of State level. It continues to be discussed at official level between the EU and the US.
From an ethical and humanitarian point of view, I have deep reservations about the forced feeding of hunger strikers. Medical organisations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have expressed significant concern about this practice. In the context of the Guantanamo detention centre, a range of medical and legal groups, international relief organisations and UN officials have called on the US Administration to stop the forced feeding.
As Deputy Crowe is aware, Ireland is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, UNHRC, where concerns about the situation have been voiced. This month, the UN special procedures mandate holders called on the US to respect and guarantee the life, health and personal integrity of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, particularly in the context of the hunger strike. The UN special rapporteur on health also expressed specific concerns about forced feeding or other forms of coercion being applied to individuals on hunger strike.
Does the Tánaiste share the UNHRC's opinion? The UN human rights office has condemned the forced feeding of the hunger strikers. The World Medical Association has stated that forceful feeding is a form of inhuman treatment and is never ethically acceptable. Will the Government use all avenues to try to bring the hunger strike to an end before people lose their lives? What is happening is horrific. We need to use whatever resources we can to bring about a successful conclusion and resolve the situation through the closure of the interrogation camps.
I agree with the UN statement. Ireland adheres to and supports international human rights law and respects the rights of individuals to refuse food if they so choose. For example, forced feeding would not be resorted to were a prisoner to go on hunger strike in Ireland. Forced feeding violates the fundamental rights of an individual to be treated with inherent dignity. We will continue to have the issue discussed with the US authorities. When I next have the opportunity, I will mention the issue again to the Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry.
