Senior Guantanamo physician dismisses ethical concerns about force-feeding prisoners, and defends the ongoing practice.
from Al Jazeera
"A military physician who oversees a team of nurses force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility has dismissed ethical concerns raised by human rights groups and medical organisations about the procedure, saying the medical community was motivated to speak out about the practice for political reasons.
"In an interview with Al Jazeera at the prison's detention hospital last week, the physician, who, for security reasons, could only be identified as a senior medical officer of the Joint Medical Group, was defensive when pressed about questions regarding medical ethics and force-feeding.
"'It's very easy for folks outside of this place to make policies and decisions they think they would implement,' the senior medical officer said. 'This is kind of a tough mission and this is kind of an ugly place sometimes, alright? The reality is when faced with people who are hunger striking, potentially to the point of needing medical intervention to protect their life and to keep them from harming themselves, suddenly it's not a very abstract decision. Hunger strikes are tough and a big use of time. I realize there's a lot of controversy. But it's a political thing.'"
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.