Rapper Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def) has shown his support for detainees currently being force-fed by U.S. officials at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba by attempting to undertake the gruelling procedure himself.
Though filmed in the middle of June, Bey and human rights organization Reprieve issued the results of their experiment today (July 8) to mark the beginning of Ramadan. As you can see in a video published by the Guardian, Bey was shackled to a chair and had a tube forced into his nostril during the procedure, which force-feeds matter from an IV into his stomach.
You see him writhe in agony before the tube becomes dislodged; he pleads to call the experiment off before it can be re-inserted. It's explained in the video that detainees experience force-feedings twice daily. We warn you, the clip contains disturbing imagery, but you can watch it over here.
"The first part of it is not that bad, but then you get this burning. It starts to be really unbearable; it feels like something's going into my brain. It started to reach the back of my throat. I really couldn't take it" Bey said following the experiment.
Certain Guantanamo Bay detainees have been on a hunger strike since February. Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, an inmate who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for 11 years without being formally charged or tried, described his experience last April for the New York Times in an opinion piece titled "Gitmo Is Killing Me."
U.S. officials have rejected a plea to stop force-feedings during the month of Ramadan, but the tube-feeding process will allegedly take place before dawn and after dusk to comply with fasting restrictions.
Though filmed in the middle of June, Bey and human rights organization Reprieve issued the results of their experiment today (July 8) to mark the beginning of Ramadan. As you can see in a video published by the Guardian, Bey was shackled to a chair and had a tube forced into his nostril during the procedure, which force-feeds matter from an IV into his stomach.
You see him writhe in agony before the tube becomes dislodged; he pleads to call the experiment off before it can be re-inserted. It's explained in the video that detainees experience force-feedings twice daily. We warn you, the clip contains disturbing imagery, but you can watch it over here.
"The first part of it is not that bad, but then you get this burning. It starts to be really unbearable; it feels like something's going into my brain. It started to reach the back of my throat. I really couldn't take it" Bey said following the experiment.
Certain Guantanamo Bay detainees have been on a hunger strike since February. Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, an inmate who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for 11 years without being formally charged or tried, described his experience last April for the New York Times in an opinion piece titled "Gitmo Is Killing Me."
U.S. officials have rejected a plea to stop force-feedings during the month of Ramadan, but the tube-feeding process will allegedly take place before dawn and after dusk to comply with fasting restrictions.
