US activists hold fresh anti-Gitmo rally outside White House

American protesters have gathered outside the White House in fresh protest rallies to urge President Barack Obama to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison, as the detainees’ hunger strike reaches day 90, Press TV reports.

Organizers such as CODEPINK and Witness Against Torture held their latest protest on Sunday, saying that the Obama administration is feeling the pressure from their recent rallies.

“The Obama administration has finally become really embarrassed about this. The fact that instead of doing justice by releasing those, they are force feeding them and this is really seen as a terrible abuse globally,” said protester Medea Benjamin.

Leaders of the activist groups say that they have experienced a rise in interest in the cause as more people are learning about the health crisis of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison.

In solidarity with the detainees, during the past week, some activists have been hunger striking for 24-hour periods by staying on a diet of salt water and potassium.

Some 130 prisoners began the hunger strike to protest against prison conditions and the detainees’ indefinite confinement on February 6.

Most of the 166 detainees being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison have been cleared for release or were never charged – a situation that has attracted outcry from certain countries and human rights organizations.

Obama renewed his promise on April 30 to make a new attempt to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

On March 7, 2011, Obama signed an executive order to formally continue the system of indefinite detention at the Guantanamo military prison, despite signing a previous executive order two years earlier to shut down the facility.

The Guantanamo prison was initially established at a US naval base in Cuba on January 11, 2002, under former US President George W. Bush.