Physicians vs Hunger Strikers

May 21, 2013

Physicians have played a crucial and controversial role at the United States military detention center Guantanamo Bay since it opened in 2002.Held indefinitely without trial and without any foreseeable chance to prove their innocence or return to their families, the detainees are left insurmountably desperate. Today a majority of the remaining 166 prisoners are currently on hunger strike in order to bring attention to their situation. However their only possible manner of protest is being silenced by the administration of forced feeding.

In this week's segment, Dr. David Nicholl, Consultant Physician and human rights activist from Birmingham, England, speaks about the forced feeding of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay, the grave historical parallels of this manner of quelling protest, as well as the ways in which the physicians involved are violating the fundamental principles of medical practice.

David Nicholl's letter to the Lancet on behalf of over 250 doctors can be found here.
Additionally, a column in which he further discusses Guantanamo Bay and medical ethics can be found here

You can download the May 21, 2013 episode or stream it in the player below: