March 4, 2013, New York – In response to news from their attorneys that most of the men at Guantanamo have been on hunger strike for more than three weeks, the Center for Constitutional Rights and habeas counsel sent a letter to military officials at the prison camp requesting they take immediate measures to improve the situation and released the following statement:  

After more than 11 years of indefinite detention and abuse, humiliation and reprisals, the military appears to be arbitrarily cracking down on the men detained at Guantanamo, going so far as to search their Qur’ans and confiscate family photos. In response, the men have felt that their only option to protest peacefully was to go on hunger strike, which has continued for more than three weeks and is now endangering their lives and health. Its failure to close Guantanamo aside, this administration should be far beyond such cruelties, particularly given how many of the men still trapped there have been unanimously cleared for transfer.