In new a video that many viewers will find disturbing, Yasiin Bey (aka Most Def) volunteers to undergo a gruesome force-feeding procedure as it is done to prisoners at Guantánamo Bay on a hunger strike for the holy month of Ramadan, The Guardian reports.
In the four-minute film made by human right organization Repreive and Bafta award-winning director Asif Kapadia, Bey opens with a brief monologue: "Peace. My name is Yasiin Bey and I'm here today to demonstrate the standard operating procedure for force-feeding detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Good morning."
There are currently 120 detainees on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay, 44 of which are currently being force fed against their will. A leaked 30-page document, "Standard Operating Procedure: Medical Management of Detainees on Hunger Strike," obtained by Al Jazeera English, details the gruesome procedure, which includes restraining a prisoner's hands and feet while inserting a lubricated feeding tube down their nose.
According The Guardian, the U.S. government has refused to suspend force-feeding for the holy month of Ramadan, defending the practice as "humane, high-quality medical care to preserve life and health."
Bey's new video may change some people's minds, as the rapper cried out and shook in pain and discomfort, visibly distressed during the force-feeding procedure. He even began to beg and plead for the doctors to stop, even though he had initially agreed to undergo the force-feeding. After asking them to stop, Bey had tears in his eyes and admitted, "I can't do it," comforted by producers as he cried into his hands.
Bey only lasted for several minutes, but the typical force-feeding procedure is carried out twice a day and typically takes two hours to complete.
"I really want to thank you guys for setting this up," Bey said after the experience. "I really didn't know what to expect. When the tube when in, the first part of it is not that bad but then you get this burning, and it starts to be really unbearable like something was going into my brain...I really couldn't take it."
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins today, during which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.
