The United States must publish the videos that show force-feeding of inmates on hunger strike in Guantánamo prison camp, Cuba, The New York Times reported on Monday.
Since 2002, the White House has kept a prison camp in that military facility, which is located on Cuban territory against the will of the Cuban people and government.
The graphic testimony shows prison guards force-feeding inmates on hunger strike for 21 months to protest against their indefinite detention there, the newspaper said in an editorial.
Lawyers from the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on December 2 to prevent the publication of 28 videos that show soldiers force-feeding Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, a Syrian disabled prisoner.
Diyab’s attorneys, along with several media organizations, including The New York Times, demanded the publication of those videos, with some omissions to protect the identities of the guards, and Judge Gladis Kessler, from the Federal Court of the District of Columbia accepted the recourse.
However, the judge has kept her ruling without effect temporarily as she wait for the response to the request from the Government, which defends the secret nature of the recordings.
According to the Department of Justice, publishing the videos “might cause international rejection, damage national security, in addition to endangering the US soldiers overseas”.
The editorial notes that President Barack Obama, who speaks about the country’s will to “act on behalf of human dignity” must authorize the publication of those videos, so that US citizens can decided on their own how to define and protect that dignity. (PL)