Yasiin Bey, 'Mos Def,' Attempts Force-Feeding Under Standard Guantanamo Bay Procedures; Rapper's Act Of Protest Ends In Tears
Rapper Yasiin Bey, a.k.a. Mos Def, participated in a graphic video that shows the standard operating procedures for force-feeding inmates at Guantánamo Bay.
The four-minute video released on Monday shows Bey enduring the procedure that involves a nasogastric feeding tube to be shoved into the detainee's nasal cavity, making its way through the esophagus until it reaches the stomach.
This feeding technique is also used on humans and animals that are otherwise unable to provide nourishment for themselves; however, authorities at the military prison usually employ this technique in response to voluntary fasting for religious or protest purposes.
Bey, an outspoken liberal activist, partnered with the Human Rights organization REPRIEVE and award-winning director Asif Kapadia to create the shocking footage, the Guardian reports.
At one point in the footage, Bey even pleads with the personnel shoving the feeding tube down his throat to stop. He later called the feeling "unbearable."
"In Guantanamo Bay the full procedure is carried out twice a day. Typically, it takes two hours to complete," explained a message flashed across the footage.