"The US military defines a hunger strike as missing nine consecutive meals. Lawyers for some of the detainees have said the hunger strikers are protesting against their continued detention without trial and against the conditions in which they are being held, he adds. About 500 prisoners remain at Guantanamo, many of them captured in Afghanistan. Some have been held for nearly four years without charge. Human rights campaigners have expressed growing concern about the treatment of inmates at Guantanamo. The Bush administration has denied allegations of abuse at Guantanamo, insisting it does not torture prisoners."