Yasmiin Bey, the rapper-turned-actor also known as Mos Def, attempted to undergo a force-feeding procedure that is apparently commonly used on hunger strike participants at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The demonstration was a part of the Stand for Justice campaign, an organization geared at ending the procedures, and it was timed to coincide with the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The hard-to-watch footage was released by the British human rights group known as Reprieve. Mos Def agreed to participate in the force feedings, but had to stop abruptly after apparently being in very serious pain.
"I really didn't know what to expect," he said. "I really couldn't take it."
Bey was seen dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit and being restrained in a chair by medical assistants. He was strapped into the chair around his waist and had his head contained by a helmet-like device as well.
As the medical assistants attempt to force a lubricated tube into his nostril (which would then be forced down through his stomach), he is brought to tears and convulses in what appears to be a lot of pain.
Before the liquid nutrients are fed through the tube, Bey cries out for the experiment to stop.
Afterwards, he tells the camera that the pain was unbearable and that it felt as if parts of his throat and nose were on fire.
Bey wipes tears from his eyes as he recalls the painful procedure that he had just endured.
The Washington Postreports that the 39-year-old has had a history of political activism. Most recently, he protested the way the government handled Hurricane Katrina.
More than half of the 166 prisoners at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo are currently participating in a hunger strike that has reportedly been ongoing for months now.
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