Force-Feeding and “The Right to Maim”: Hunger Strikes at Guantánamo Bay

Abstract:This article explores how “involuntary enteral feeding” at the Joint Task Force – Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) allows for the United States to thwart the hunger striking protests of detainees resisting grave mistreatment and unlawful incarceration. Involuntary enteral feeding, also referred to as force-feeding in this article, is presented in the JTF-GTMO’s standard operating procedure as a necessary medical intervention used to rescue the frail hunger striker, but in fact uses excessive violence and causes further injury to the ailing detainee. This purportedly lifesaving protocol enables the US to interrupt hunger strikers’ protests and ironically underscores the very conditions inspiring detainee striking efforts.