More Gitmo prisoners join hunger strike

MIAMI — U.S. military medical providers counted 102 Guantanamo prisoners as hunger strikers on Thursday, the first increase after three weeks when the number seemed to plateau at 100.

The Miami Herald reported that Navy medical workers were tube-feeding 30 of the hunger strikers, said Army Lt. Col. Samuel House. Three were hospitalized, but none had “life-threatening conditions,” he said.

Military officials would not say whether the protest had spread to Camp 7, the building where the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and 14 other so-called high-value detainees who were once held in secret CIA facilities have been locked up since 2006.

On May 8, defense lawyers for some of the alleged 9/11 conspirators filed a motion asking the war court judge to forbid the prison staff from force-feeding their clients.