Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Obama Administration: Federal Court Can't Intervene In Guantanamo Force-Feeding

MIAMI, July 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal court has no jurisdiction and no legal basis to intervene in the force-feeding of prisoners at the Guantanamo naval base, the Obama administration argued in a court document on Wednesday.

Additionally, the Justice Department said, the force-feeding will not compromise prisoners' religious rights because it will be done only at night during Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast from sunup to sundown.

Lawyers for four Guantanamo prisoners have asked the U.S. District Court in Washington to halt the force-feeding of Guantanamo prisoners, most of whom have waged a hunger strike for months to protest their indefinite detention. The lawyers argued that the procedure is painful, humiliating and violates international law.

The Justice Department filed its response on Wednesday and urged the court not to intervene in the detention operation at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba.

It was unclear when the court would rule but the prisoners' lawyers asked for a decision before Ramadan starts on Monday.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author: Jane Sutton 

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