Mos Def undergoes Guantánamo Bay force-feeding procedure

In a disturbing video, the rapper sheds light on the inhumane practices being used at the facility

Published July 8, 2013 3:20PM (EDT)

Rapper and MC Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def, has partnered with the Human Rights organization Reprieve to demonstrate the standard operating procedure currently being used to force-feed more than 40 inmates at Guantánamo Bay.

Executing the procedure based on a leaked military document, the Guardian has released the four-minute film made by award-winning director Asif Kapadia (Warning: content may be disturbing for some viewers) in which Bey is shackled to a chair and undergoes the "extremely painful" procedure.

Currently, more than 100 detainees are on a hunger strike at the facility, and more than 40 of them are being force fed. The strike shows no sign of slowing.

Carlos Warner, a lawyer who represents several of the detainees on strike, told the Guardian in June: "The hunger strike grows for two reasons: the military's refusal to negotiate with the men in a productive way and because the president has taken no action in spite of his words."

In a speech in May, President Obama echoed an unfulfilled promise from 2008 in which he said the administration would work to close the base, which currently holds several inmates who have been detained without trial for more than a decade.


By Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com.

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Barack Obama Guantanamo Bay Human Rights Hunger Strike Mos Def Video