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The number of detainees on hunger strike has nearly doubled at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, US officials have said.
General John Kelly, the commanding general responsible for the prison, told a congressional committee on Wednesday that detainees were "devastated" after their "optimism" was dashed that Guantanamo would be closed.
"They had great optimism that Guantanamo would be closed. They were devastated apparently ... when the president backed off, at least (that's) their perception, of closing the facility," Marine Corps General John Kelly told the House Armed Services Committee in Washington.
A total of 24 Guantanamo captives, up from 15 since March 11, were on a hunger strike and eight of them had lost enough weight that doctors were force-feeding them liquid nutrients thorough tubes inserted into their noses and down their stomachs, Captain Robert Durand, a spokesman at the detention camp, told Reuters news agency. Two were hospitalised with dehydration, he said.
Read more @: Guantanamo hunger strike growing - Americas - Al Jazeera English
More and more detainees in Guantanamo are on a hunger strike because they thought it was going to close but as we all know they have not. Im not surprised that no media outlet in the US is really reporting on this.