JURIST - Paper Chase: Gitmo detainees begin new hunger strike

[JURIST] Detainees at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] have started another hunger strike in an effort to "receive a fair hearing and humane treatment," according to human rights lawyers with the Center for Constitutional Rights [advocacy website]. The detainees ended an earlier strike on June 28 after the military promised that facility officers would comply [JURIST report] with the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials], but the protestors claim that nothing has changed. Many of the prisoners have been held for over three years without being charged or having access to lawyers. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced changes in Guantanamo terrorism trials [JURIST report] yesterday, saying that 12 detainees are currently eligible for trial with four already charged. But Amnesty International [advocacy website] remains critical of the new changes [press release] saying they give "no real rights to the accused." Read a statement by one of the Guantanamo detainees participating in the hunger strike. AP has more.

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