Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force-fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure

My name is URL

As Ramadan begins, more than 100 hunger-strikers in Guantánamo Bay continue their protest. More than 40 of them are being force-fed. A leaked document sets out the military instructions, or standard operating procedure, for force-feeding detainees. In the four-minute film made by Human Rights organisation Reprieve Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), experiences the procedure.

The human-rights group Reprieve arranged for Yasiin Bey, better known as hip-hop artist Mos Def, to be force-fed using the standard operating procedure at Guantanamo Bay, a session they videotaped. In the disturbing footage, posted at The Guardian, Bey has a tube shoved down his nasal cavity and down his throat, at which point he pleads for the process to stop. The footage is below, and while I don't know whether or not forced feeding crosses the line of torture, the exercise reminded me of the late Christopher Hitchens volunteering to be waterboarded.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/07/mos-def-cant-handle-being-force-fed-like-a-gitmo-prisoner/277569/

Video is quite distressing so don't watch it if you're going to complain about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlCISx26gi0

What's your opinion on this stuff? I think it's barbaric tbh, and don't for the life of me understand how and why they are allowed by the international community to continue doing this stuff. If you weren't a terrorist going into GB you'd be one by the time you got out.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Just watched it, and it's pretty harrowing indeed.

On one hand, it has to be one of the only ways to give someone nutrition in order to keep them alive... but if they're hunger striking, do they have the right to end their own life through starvation?

Torture is generally something you can't end easily, or at all. This is something that the recipient can end by submitting to the prison guards (and their cause) and eating.

It's a confusing video, and I don't know what to think except that I'm glad I don't have to ensure it.

padd b1975

*puts on irish mammy voice*


I bet the children in Africa would eat it without a struggle!!

dd972

the lengths people go to for a free lunch

mike65

Emmeline Pankhurst says "meh"

Yitzhak Rabin

The last thing they want is a load of martyrs on their hands who starved themselves to death. There is an easy way to avoid being force fed.

MagicMarker

Isn't Mos Def a rapper?

Celly Smunt

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The last thing they want is a load of martyrs on their hands who starved themselves to death. There is an easy way to avoid being force fed.

Maybe giving the "terrorists" a trial and releasing the innocent would nip the bud of any martyrdom.

Karl Stein

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The last thing they want is a load of martyrs on their hands who starved themselves to death. There is an easy way to avoid being force fed.

Too late. They've already made thousands of martyrs by their chicken-hawk driven wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and drone strikes in Pakistan.

Regardless of some random bull**** opinion on the interweb:

The World Medical Association has strongly reiterated its view that the forced feeding of hunger strikers is unethical, and is never justified.

At its annual General Assembly in Sun City, South Africa, the WMA amended its guidance to physicians on the management of hunger strikers to make it absolutely clear that force feeding constitutes a form of inhuman and degrading treatment.

www.wma.net

Nodin

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The last thing they want is a load of martyrs on their hands who starved themselves to death. There is an easy way to avoid being force fed.

Don't get turned over to the yanks for 2000 USD by some Pashtun tribe or other for the crime of being an easy target? Yeah...I suppose that needs a few caveats added though.

floggg

MagicMarker wrote: »

Isn't Mos Def a rapper?

Yup, and actor.

He's also a bit of a political activist - think he got arrested a few years back outside the VMAs for a Hurrucane Katrina protest.

Fair play for volunteering for this - the video is getting much more publicity than if it was a joe soap doing it.

It certainly doesn't look pleasant.

WoollyRedHat

The reason why they have been brought to starve themselves, is because it is their only way to protest against inhumane and detestable treatment as they remain detained in Guantamano, a purgatory on earth. That the authorities insist to force feed them so that they may end their hunger strike as it brings unwanted attention to them and reveals them to be hypocrites in their championing of human rights is telling.


Didn't the U.N declare that it is goes against human rights to force feed someone? To hunger strike is a pretty desperate act for any human being to resort to, but they have no other recourse.

Btw OP your video has been taken down due to a claim of copyright.

Royal Irish

MagicMarker wrote: »

Isn't Mos Def a rapper?

For shore!!

Nodin

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

/.................

Btw OP your video has been taken down due to a claim of copyright.

This still works, for those interested
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2013/jul/09/yasiin-bey-force-fed-guantanomo-bay-mos-def

Yitzhak Rabin

The detainee programme has been used to effectively dismantle a huge network of global terrorism as well as preventing numerous potential attacks. The unpleasant aspects of it are outweighed by it's benefits.

Fr_Dougal

What a pussy. He's completely overacting.

garv123

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1044414_600733289949734_2032481777_n.jpg

Dyr

The unpleasant aspects of flying planes into buildings are outweighed by the benefits.

Thats how easy it is

krudler

MagicMarker wrote: »

Isn't Mos Def a rapper?

Most Definitely

Prodigious

He's not actually in Guantánamo Bay for anyone that's confused. He's doing it for the human rights organisation. Fair play.

WoollyRedHat

Bambi wrote: »

The unpleasant aspects of flying planes into buildings are outweighed by the benefits.

Thats how easy it is

No, that's just bull**** justification, ala the Fox spin on things.. easy to say that carte blanche, but trying saying that when you're locked away, classed as a terrorist, and are still waiting for a trial, with the administration even admitting most are innocent. And that's just the detainee aspect of it...

Jimmy Bottlehead

garv123 wrote: »

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1044414_600733289949734_2032481777_n.jpg

Ouch

WoollyRedHat

For anyone interested on the continuning Gitmo saga, in which over a half of it detainees up to recently ( I haven't heard anything about the story in a while, so hence up to recently, can someone confirm the latest on the situation) there's something on The Independent here as well as the force feeding - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/over-half-of-guantanamo-bay-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-as-number-increases-to-84-8581965.

In terms of the controversy over the closure of Gitmo, worth reading Greenwald's article by the excellent Grenwald here http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/29/obama-guantanamo-pentagon-cyber-yemen



To those who say the likes of Guanantomo are a neccesary evil in terms of fighting off the terrorist threat listen to yourselves... you support indoctinerating potential innocent people, denied their freedoms, indefintely waiting for trial and you think this is good for deterring terrorism?

Prodigious

People look at Hitler and the concentration camps and think: "Jaysus, thank god that'll never happen again, sure how did the people let it happen in the first place?"
It's the same thing ...

CastingCouch

Haven't watched the vid, but I think the gist is this rapper was force fed during ramadan.

Now, what would be the reaction if it was just a normal guy? I have seen this on fb from people saying he's a musician they like and it's a terrible thing.

Was he the only one force fed?

DrumSteve

Prodigious wrote: »

People look at Hitler and the concentration camps and think: "Jaysus, thank god that'll never happen again, sure how did the people let it happen in the first place?"
It's the same thing ...

tbf its quite a bit different.

that was organised genocide. this isnt.

goose2005

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The detainee programme has been used to effectively dismantle a huge network of global terrorism as well as preventing numerous potential attacks. The unpleasant aspects of it are outweighed by it's benefits.

[citation needed]

CastingCouch

CastingCouch wrote: »

Haven't watched the vid, but I think the gist is this rapper was force fed during ramadan.

Now, what would be the reaction if it was just a normal guy? I have seen this on fb from people saying he's a musician they like and it's a terrible thing.

Was he the only one force fed?

I havent watched the video, but I think, he volunteered to be force fed, for publicity , to highlight whats going on at Gitmo

gctest50

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

What a pussy. He's completely overacting.

Yip, pure drama queen

Gbear

I'm not commenting on the morality of the practice but Mos Def does the argument no favours by being a total pussy.

It's just propaganda tbh.

Gone Drinking

aren't people fed like this in hospitals all the time?

Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The detainee programme has been used to effectively dismantle a huge network of global terrorism as well as preventing numerous potential attacks. The unpleasant aspects of it are outweighed by it's benefits.

What a nice way off summing up the horrors against so many innocents.. "Unpleasant aspects."

Can you imagine if this "form of justice" was done to try and thwart the IRA during the troubles? Countless people being lifted of the street and being tortured for years because of some remote connection to a member.

Dyr

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

No, that's just bull**** justification, ala the Fox spin on things.. easy to say that carte blanche, but trying saying that when you're locked away, classed as a terrorist, and are still waiting for a trial, with the administration even admitting most are innocent. And that's just the detainee aspect of it...

Eh no. What I'm saying is that if you want to make a bull**** "greater good" argument like good oul yitzhack is you better be prepared to accept that any assh**le can use that as an excuse.

Karl Stein

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The detainee programme has been used to effectively dismantle a huge network of global terrorism as well as preventing numerous potential attacks. The unpleasant aspects of it are outweighed by it's benefits.

Source: Faux News.

Okay, now back to reality:

For US Army Col. Larry Wilkerson (Former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, Visiting professor at the College of William & Mary, teaching courses on U.S. national security) estimates that in the year 2000 there was in the region of 300 to 500 people in the world with the desire and support/capacity to inflict damage on the US/West; recently Wilkerson estimates that there are now 50,000.

Nodin

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

The detainee programme has been used to effectively dismantle a huge network of global terrorism as well as preventing numerous potential attacks. The unpleasant aspects of it are outweighed by it's benefits.

...bollocks. Torturing goat herders is not intelligence gathering.

It's never good when you sound like the kind of official excuse given, btw.

Yitzhak Rabin

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London).

Since then, the whole organisation has been smashed and splintered. It's been highly infiltrated, and fragmented. They are no longer capable of large-scale attacks against the West and have become pre-occupied with infighting and struggles across N.Africa and the ME.

Christ the Redeemer

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London).

Since then, the whole organisation has been smashed and splintered. It's been highly infiltrated, and fragmented. They are no longer capable of large-scale attacks against the West and have become pre-occupied with infighting and struggles across N.Africa and the ME.

Handy. Beat them back to fight in areas where there's resources to covet and a growing Chinese presence.

You'd swallow any old bull**** to justify your bigotry, wouldn't you?

Cossax

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London).

Since then, the whole organisation has been smashed and splintered. It's been highly infiltrated, and fragmented. They are no longer capable of large-scale attacks against the West and have become pre-occupied with infighting and struggles across N.Africa and the ME.

Source, please.

Yitzhak Rabin

Christ the Redeemer wrote: »

Handy. Beat them back to fight in areas where there's resources to covet and a growing Chinese presence.

You'd swallow any old bull**** to justify your bigotry, wouldn't you?

I don't think you understood what I said.

Also, I'm not a bigot.

Duggy747

It's a nasogastric tube, not a nettle being put up his nose.

I get what the video is trying to say but that's just pulling the piss with the reaction.

Karl Stein

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London).

More bollocks. In the wake of the 7/7 bombings Police Commissioner Ian Blair said "Al Qaeda is not an organization. Al Qaeda is a way of working ... but this has the hallmark of that approach."

Cossax

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

More bollocks. In the wake of the 7/7 bombings Police Commissioner Ian Blair said "Al Qaeda is not an organization. Al Qaeda is a way of working ... but this has the hallmark of that approach."

Fairly sure no direct AQ link was ever discovered re: Madrid bombing either.

Mos Def possibly (ever so slightly) exaggerating the experience, is still a hell of a lot better, than the US mouthing about how great and humane the conditions are there.

Love Yasiin, and great to see this getting so much exposure.

Wacker The Attacker

MagicMarker wrote: »

Isn't Mos Def a rapper?

mos def.

for real yo

Nodin

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London)..

Good jesus, that's crap.

up for anything

Deleted User wrote: »

What a nice way off summing up the horrors against so many innocents.. "Unpleasant aspects."

Can you imagine if this "form of justice" was done to try and thwart the IRA during the troubles? Countless people being lifted of the street and being tortured for years because of some remote connection to a member.

Wasn't that called internment? Bobby Sands?

If the process of force feeding dehumanises the person being force fed, it even moreso dehumanises the people doing the force feeding which doesn't bode well for anybody involved in it.

I hate it when people refer to Guantanamo Bay as Gitmo.

Zulu

Where did I leave that troll food....

up for anything

up for anything wrote: »

I hate it when people refer to Guantanamo Bay as Gitmo.

Just curious, why do you hate it? its the Military name for it.

Libadour

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London).

Since then, the whole organisation has been smashed and splintered. It's been highly infiltrated, and fragmented. They are no longer capable of large-scale attacks against the West and have become pre-occupied with infighting and struggles across N.Africa and the ME.

I find it incredible that people with your type of mentality exist. Do you really think that Guantanamo has dissuaded terrorist attacks? All this type of behaviour does is dress hundreds of more volunteers in the fight against the U.S.A and the U.K whilst simultaneously losing those countries face throughout the rest of the world.

The thinkers of the world can see through all the bollocks that is fed by the media about how these brave nations are taking on terrorism. Ironic considering the U.S and U.K governments are the biggest terrorist organisations in the world.

up for anything

Jake1 wrote: »

Just curious, why do you hate it? its the Military name for it.

That's just it. The military name. Unless you're involved with it in some way through work or whatever, it just sounds like you're getting down with the lads in a silly way.

floggg

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Before gitmo, and the info from the programme that led to other strategic strikes against AQ, they were a highly organised structure with a top down leadership capable of carrying out massively devastating against the west (NY, Madrid, London).

Since then, the whole organisation has been smashed and splintered. It's been highly infiltrated, and fragmented. They are no longer capable of large-scale attacks against the West and have become pre-occupied with infighting and struggles across N.Africa and the ME.

Really? So Gitmo only opened after the Madrid bombings, the 7/7 bombings in London, the Bali bombing etc?

And what has it done to the homegrown DIY terrorist market like in Boston?

Or in the UK, like the recent beheading?

Or in countries like Somalia where Al-Shabab are now running wild?

Or Nigeria where Boko Haram just launched a major attack on a boarding school, slaughtering children and burning them alive while they slept?

Or Mali where Al-Qaeda in the Islanic Maghreb seizes half the country, installed strict Sharia law and destroyed countless historic sites and artifacts in Timbuktu?

Or Iraq, where Al-Qaeda helped light the torch to the sectarian violence which tore the country apart for years?

Or do they not count because they weren't white westerners?


It's bad enough trying to justify torture and human rights abuses, but to do so on such easily refuted grounds just makes you like bad.

The world is suffering much more violence at the hands of Islamic extremists than it ever saw in 2000