Federal judge says government must release video of a Guantanamo detainee’s force-feeding

A feeding tube and other items used in the forced feeding of detainees is seen at the detainee hospital at Guantanamo Bay. Doctors say that the method of rectal feeding and hydrating described in the Senate’s report on the CIA’s interrogation practices is not practiced in modern medicine. 2013 file photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Months after ordering the public release of more than two dozen videos that show the force-feeding of a Guantanamo Bay detainee, a federal judge on Friday directed the government to move the process forward by getting eight of the recordings ready by next month.

The judge in October had directed the Justice Department to publicly release videotapes showing the feeding of Syrian hunger-striking prisoner Abu Wa’el Dhiab. But she said at the time that the tapes would remain sealed until some of the information on them — such as voices and faces of prison workers — could be redacted.

In a five-page order Friday, she told the government to complete by August 31 the redaction of 8 of 32 videos that are being released. She also ordered redactions by September of a separate compilation, a roughly 75-minute video that was prepared by Dhiab’s attorneys.

Media organizations including The Associated Press had asked the judge to unseal the videos, saying the public has a significant interest in how the government is treating terror suspects held at the detention facility.

“We want to get all of the tapes, and we want to get all of them as quickly as we can,” David Schulz, a lawyer for the media groups, said at a hearing Thursday.

Justice Department lawyers have fought those demands, and in December asked a federal appeals court to overturn Kessler’s decision and to extend the delay in releasing the tapes until the appeal is resolved.

U.S. officials had argued that the release of the videos would inflame anti-American sentiment, but Kessler has appeared skeptical of that argument. She also criticized the government for what she said has been a monthslong delay in complying with her order and for filing an appeal of her decision that she said was as “frivolous” as she had ever seen.

“The only thing consistent about the government’s position has been its constant plea for more time,” Kessler wrote.

She added: “In the months since the court ordered redaction and release of the 32 videotapes, the government has made almost no progress in completing its redactions.”

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