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Abu Wa’el Dhiab: Judge orders US government to release Guantanamo Bay inmate force-feeding videos

Department of Justice overruled as Judge Gladys Kessler orders government to release 34 'most pertinent' videos of Abu Wa’el Dhiab's forced removal from cells and forced feeding

A judge has ordered the US government to produce 34 videotapes of hunger-striking Guantanamo Bay concentration camp inmate Abu Wa’el Dhiab.

Judge Gladys Kessler brushed aside Justice Department objections so that the tapes are preserved as Mr Dhiab seeks to challenge the military’s abusive force-feeding of prisoners.

She also ordered authorities to turn over Mr Dhiab’s medical records.

The 42-year-old has been held without charge at Guantanamo since August 2002.

The US government cleared him for release in 2009 and media reports in Uruguay say he is one of a few Syrians held at Guantanamo who are being considered for resettlement there.

On Friday, Judge Kessler imposed a temporary restraining order that directed the military to stop force-feeding Mr Dhiab.

But according to a court filing by one of Mr Dhiab’s lawyers, he resumed his hunger strike on Monday and medical staff told him he would once again be force-fed if he did not start eating.

Prisoners at Guantanamo have engaged in hunger strikes for years to protest against their confinement.

The US military forcibly feeds striking detainees through a nasal tube.

The lawyer also said his client had warned him the military’s videotaping of force-feeding is incomplete and manipulated.

Ms Kessler ordered that the “most pertinent” of the 136 videos should be kept.

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