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Hunger strike at Guantanamo North Reuel S Amdur - StraightGoods.ca VIA theFilter.ca June 23, 2006 The media have reported on the new facility near Kingston for men held on security certificates pending possible deportation. Those certificates were the subject of a Supreme Court hearing this past week. What the media have not told us about is that three of the four men being held are on a hunger strike. The fourth, Mohamed Harkat, is on the verge of being released on very strict bail conditions. Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohammad Majoub have been on a hunger strike for a month, Hassan Almrei for six weeks. According to Matthew Behrens, of the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, one problem is that Guantanamo North is "a glorified classroom portable", which is too hot in this weather. He expects that problem to be resolved soon because the guards also complain about the heat they have to work in. Jaballah's son Ahmed spoke of different issues. The men have no access to the canteen, where they might buy things like shampoo. Even when they were in Metro Toronto West Detention Center, they were able to get to the canteen. Also, they have no access to the programs at the prison that the criminals have, such as adult education programs. Most serious, Ahmed said, are restrictions on family contacts. While at Toronto West, there was no limit to phone contacts, but now they are limited to an hour a day. And visits with family are restricted to four hours. Convicts have access to a trailer to stay with family for two or three days, but these men who have been convicted of nothing have no such privileges. Family contact is difficult for these men in any case, as the families are three or four hours away in the Toronto area. The denial of reasonable family contact has a bad effect both on the men and their families. As much as we may regret the decision of the men to risk their health, if not their lives, in the hunger strike, their action is understandable. When you have so little, and when you have been convicted of no offense, to find yourselves deprived even more severely than those who have been found guilty of criminal acts, some horrendous, tears at feelings of dignity and basic humanity. Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com Hassan Almrei is a veteran of hunger strikes, over issues that illustrate the heartless bureaucracy of the penal institutions in which he has been held. In solitary at Metro Toronto West Detention Centre, he struck to be allowed to have footwear and warm clothing in the cold winter weather. A court finally ordered that this demand be met after guards testified to the coldness and to the fact that they had to wear heavy clothing in the cell block. On another occasion, Almrei went on hunger strike to get the jail to follow the doctor's orders. He was complaining about pain in his knees, and the doctor said that the problem was due to the cramped cell he was in. He prescribed an hour a day of exercise in the fresh air. The system had to be nudged by the strike to give him this concession. Follow-up: Maoua Diomande, the woman who had to take sanctuary in Eglise du Sacré-Coeur in Ottawa to avoid deportation to Ivory Coast, where she was beaten, cut, and raped by soldiers, has been given a minister’s permit to stay in Canada. On June 27, it would have been a year that she had to live in cramped quarters in the church. Reuel Amdur is a freelance writer based in Val-des-Monts, Quebec. His SG column draws on his career as a social worker. In addition, he has covered a wide range of topics for publications such as Fast Forward, Edmonton and Calgary Senior, Ottawa Citizen, and Montreal Gazette. He also assists people in preparing biographies. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Weekly Features Archive
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Hunger strike at Guantanamo North

Reuel S Amdur - StraightGoods.ca VIA theFilter.ca
June 23, 2006

Police State The media have reported on the new facility near Kingston for men held on security certificates pending possible deportation. Those certificates were the subject of a Supreme Court hearing this past week. What the media have not told us about is that three of the four men being held are on a hunger strike. The fourth, Mohamed Harkat, is on the verge of being released on very strict bail conditions. Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohammad Majoub have been on a hunger strike for a month, Hassan Almrei for six weeks.

According to Matthew Behrens, of the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, one problem is that Guantanamo North is "a glorified classroom portable", which is too hot in this weather. He expects that problem to be resolved soon because the guards also complain about the heat they have to work in.

Jaballah's son Ahmed spoke of different issues. The men have no access to the canteen, where they might buy things like shampoo. Even when they were in Metro Toronto West Detention Center, they were able to get to the canteen. Also, they have no access to the programs at the prison that the criminals have, such as adult education programs.

Most serious, Ahmed said, are restrictions on family contacts. While at Toronto West, there was no limit to phone contacts, but now they are limited to an hour a day. And visits with family are restricted to four hours. Convicts have access to a trailer to stay with family for two or three days, but these men who have been convicted of nothing have no such privileges.

Family contact is difficult for these men in any case, as the families are three or four hours away in the Toronto area. The denial of reasonable family contact has a bad effect both on the men and their families. As much as we may regret the decision of the men to risk their health, if not their lives, in the hunger strike, their action is understandable. When you have so little, and when you have been convicted of no offense, to find yourselves deprived even more severely than those who have been found guilty of criminal acts, some horrendous, tears at feelings of dignity and basic humanity.

Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com

Hassan Almrei is a veteran of hunger strikes, over issues that illustrate the heartless bureaucracy of the penal institutions in which he has been held. In solitary at Metro Toronto West Detention Centre, he struck to be allowed to have footwear and warm clothing in the cold winter weather. A court finally ordered that this demand be met after guards testified to the coldness and to the fact that they had to wear heavy clothing in the cell block.

On another occasion, Almrei went on hunger strike to get the jail to follow the doctor's orders. He was complaining about pain in his knees, and the doctor said that the problem was due to the cramped cell he was in. He prescribed an hour a day of exercise in the fresh air. The system had to be nudged by the strike to give him this concession.

Follow-up:

Maoua Diomande, the woman who had to take sanctuary in Eglise du Sacré-Coeur in Ottawa to avoid deportation to Ivory Coast, where she was beaten, cut, and raped by soldiers, has been given a minister’s permit to stay in Canada. On June 27, it would have been a year that she had to live in cramped quarters in the church.

Reuel Amdur is a freelance writer based in Val-des-Monts, Quebec. His SG column draws on his career as a social worker. In addition, he has covered a wide range of topics for publications such as Fast Forward, Edmonton and Calgary Senior, Ottawa Citizen, and Montreal Gazette. He also assists people in preparing biographies.

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