Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am being kept informed of developments relating to the hunger strike which is taking place at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. I have made clear on many occasions my view that the centre should be closed and that the detainees should be either brought to trial or released as soon as possible. I discussed this issue with Hillary Clinton when she was US Secretary of State. It is also mentioned regularly in discussions between Irish and US officials and between the EU and the US. I will mention it when I next meet US Secretary of State Kerry. President Obama has made a political commitment to close the centre. I very much welcome this, along with his indication last week that he will make renewed efforts to secure closure.

I understand that approximately 100 of the detainees are currently on hunger strike. This is a difficult and delicate situation. I hope it will be handled in a humane and sensitive manner and that the rights of those involved - including that to peaceful protest - will be fully respected. We all wish to see a peaceful outcome without loss of life. I also understand that the US Government has confirmed that a number of the hunger strikers are being force-fed through tubes. I am concerned at this development because I have profound reservations about this practice from an ethical standpoint. I hope the use of force-feeding will be reconsidered and discontinued immediately.

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