US deploys extra forces in Guantanamo

The United States is dispatching additional soldiers to the Guantanamo Bay prison complex in Cuba amid the inmates™ hunger strike.

A total of 125 guard forces will be transferred from Puerto Rico to the infamous US detention center, a US Army Reserve spokesman said on Wednesday.

The soldiers have been sent for a one-month training program before they leave for the detention center, he said.

The overall goal is to attain 2,000 staff members in order to watch over the 166 detainees. The detention center currently employs 1,831 troops and civilians.

One hundred thirty prisoners have been on a hunger strike for over 100 days in protest against their long confinement without charge or trial, as well as the horrible and degrading conditions at the jail.

Numerous countries and human rights groups including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also urged US President Barack Obama™s administration to mend the situation in Guantanamo where guards have been force-feeding prisoners, saying that the act is akin to torture.

On June 4, the Armed Services Committee voted to keep the prison open, despite Obama™s pledge to close the prison.

Obama mentioned in a recent speech the economic burden that the prison puts on taxpayers œduring a time of budget cuts…[where] we spend USD 150 million each year to imprison 166 people – almost USD 1 million per prisoner.”

GMA/KA