Judge hears arguments on force-feeding of Gitmo detainee

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A federal judge is considering the first legal challenge to the forcible feeding of detainees at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Lawyers for Abu Wa'el Dhiab, a Syrian who has been held in Guantanamo for 12 years, are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar staff at Guantanamo from removing and inserting his feeding tube and using force to get him out of his cell to feed him by tube. During a three-day hearing before U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington, they argued that removing the tube instead of leaving it in is not medically necessary but is designed to break Dhiab's hunger strike.

While the government wanted the hearing to be closed, Kessler heard most of the testimony and arguments in public. On Wednesday, she and the lawyers watched a three-hour video of feeding in a closed session.

The judge has ordered the classified videotape to become public but that has not yet happened.

Justice Department lawyers presented evidence that leaving feeding tubes inserted can cause medical problems. Witnesses also said detainees can use the tube to kill themselves or to harm others.