A Navy nurse who refused to tube feed hunger striking prisoners is still assigned to the detention center here but is carrying out “administrative duties,” the new prison commander said Friday.
Navy Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad also said in an interview with the Miami Herald that he sees no reason to consider lifting the 250-day-old hunger-strike blackout and resume revealing the number of prisoners designated for tube feedings each day.
Daily figures “weren’t really operationally or medically relevant,” the admiral said. He added that, while hunger strike figures are not classified, “I really don’t see a need to provide those.”
Last month, a lawyer for a cleared, force-fed hunger striker told the story of the Navy lieutenant, a nurse, who refused to take part in the feedings — and the military confirmed it.
The attorney, Cori Crider, called the officer a courageous conscientious objector. She said her client quoted the nurse as announcing to a detainee: “I have come to the decision that I refuse to participate in this criminal act.”
Comments