“Detainees retain basic human rights. The International Committee of the Red Cross has indicated its opposition to forced feeding. The procedure involves shackling and strapping down the detainee as a tube is inserted through the nose into the stomach. Rather than resorting to such measures, our nation should first do everything it can to address the conditions of despair that have led to this protest.
In light of these concerns, I ask you to conduct a careful review of conditions for detainees at Guantanamo and move expeditiously to work with other Administration departments to release the 86 who have already been cleared and to make good on the President’s commitment to close this facility that has become a symbol of indefinite detention without trial,” – Richard E. Pates, Bishop of Des Moines, written on behalf of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, on Sunday.
The Dish 