As the month-long observance of Ramadan begins at sundown today (July 8), prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, many who are Muslim, will be force fed despite a hunger strike and their religious obligations. Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, was the centerpiece of a video demonstrating the disturbing procedure at the prison.
The Guardian reported on the video, which was released by human rights organization, Reprieve, and director Asif Kapadia. The visual is a direct response to a legal filing made by four of the detainees who has accused the United States government of enacting a force feeding operation during Ramadan. Bey plays one of the prisoners in the clip, as soldiers and doctors perform what’s called a “medical management of detainees on hunger strike.”
Over 100 detainees are striking in protest to the authorities, with 45 of them reportedly being fed via tubes that are inserted into their stomachs. In the video, soldiers and doctors insert a log tube inside the nose of Bey, who is heavily restrained, in a disturbing display of the forced feeding. At one point in the video, it appears the experience was too much for Bey and the directors ordered the scene to be cut.
A visibly shaken Bey tries to break free of the emotional toil of the scene towards the end of the video, saying that the procedure was painful. According to Reprieve, the procedure takes two hours to perform.
Watch Yasiin Bey in Reprieve’s clip below. Leave your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Photo: YouTube
