27/10/2005
KUWAIT CITY (AP): Parents of hunger striking Guantanamo Bay detainee say they will not approve their son’s request to remove his feeding tube and let him die. “We utterly refuse,” said the father of Fawzi Al-Odah, Khaled, here on Wednesday. “Fawzi would not have taken such a decision unless he has lost all hope and some of his ability to reason.” The 28-year-old detainee wants a judge to order the removal of his tube “out of desperation,” according to his American attorney. Parental approval is needed for making the motion. Twenty-six detainees at the US base in Cuba are participating in a hunger strike that started in August. Most are being force-fed through a nasal tube. Al-Odah’s father, who heads a private group that lobbies for the release or trial of Kuwait’s prisoners at the facility, said he believed “mistreatments” and a feeling of being deprived of his right to defend himself have pushed his son to request to remove the tube.
Wilner, the attorney, said the motion to remove the tube has not been filed because lawyers want the prisoner to seek the family’s approval and consult with doctors and psychological specialists not affiliated with the US government. “Of course we will not accept,” said his mother Souad Al-Abdul Jalil, in tears. She complained she has not heard her son’s voice or seen him for years. “Under what law are they (US military) doing this? This is more than barbaric.” Al-Odah’s parents says they are finding it difficult to deal with their son’s absence during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, when relatives and friends gather for fast-breaking meals known as Iftar, chat and watch television. “It hurts when we sit at the Iftar table and his chair is empty, he used to tell jokes all the time,” said Fawzi’s father.
SOURCE: Arab Times Online
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