Lib outrage to ensue.
MIAMI (AP) — Guards clashed Saturday with prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison as the military sought to move hunger strikers out of a communal section of the detention center on the U.S. base in Cuba, officials said.
The confrontation occurred after the commander decided to move prisoners into single, solid-walled cells so that prison authorities could monitor them more closely during the hunger strike, the military said.
When guards arrived in the communal to move the men, the prisoners fought back with makeshift weapons, prompting troops to fire four “less-than-lethal rounds” to quell the disturbance, according to a statement issued by Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the prison. There were no major injuries, military officials said.
“I know for sure that one detainee was hit but the injuries were minor, just some bruises,” said Army Col. Greg Julian, a Southern Command spokesman.
Guards used a modified shotgun shell that fires small rubber pellets as well as type of bean-bag projectile, Julian said.
The clash occurred in Camp 6, which the military converted to a mostly communal section for well-behaved prisoners, giving them access to satellite television, language and other classes and round-the-clock recreation time to make Guantanamo conform to international standards for a prisoner-of-war camp.
“This is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing,” said Carlos Warner, a federal public defender in Ohio who represents several prisoners held at Guantanamo. “The military is escalating the conflict.”
HT: Neal