Guantanamo's Twelfth Ramadan

by Resita Cox

In case you missed it, this week Yasiin Bey, the artist formerly known as Mos Def, underwent Gitmo’s standard procedure of using nasogastric tubes to force-feed hunger strike participants. The steps of the procedure were revealed in a document leaked to Al Jazeera. Despite being chained and strapped to the feeding chair, Bey was unable to complete the procedure due to excruciating pain.

Of the 779 people detained at Guantanamo, about 600 have been released or transfered. 106 of the current 166 Guantanamo detainees are on hunger strike; 45 are being force-fed. 40 Gitmo detainees were just released from a three-month lockdown, during which they spent at least 22 hours a day in solitary confinement.