A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner is claiming that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis watched him being tortured while he was stationed there.
Yemeni citizen Mansoor Adayfi was held at Guantanamo prison camp for 14 years.
In an interview with The Independent, he claims that he was brutally force-fed by guards during a hunger strike in 2006. And Adayfi says DeSantis was present for at least one of those incidents.
The United Nations has since characterized the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay as torture. The US says it’s not torture, and has been used against prisoners for decades during hunger strikes.
DeSantis was stationed at Guantanamo Bay between March 2006 and January 2007. During his year there, DeSantis oversaw riots, hunger strikes and death. Part of his role at Guantanamo was supposed to be hearing concerns and complaints from prisoners and addressing them.
Two prisoners, including Adayfi, say DeSantis witnessed force-feeding of the prisoners on hunger strike. Adayfi says DeSantis told him that he was there for the prisoners’ welfare.
After leaving, DeSantis remained an advocate for the continued use of Guantanamo Bay despite what he oversaw in his time there.
It is unfortunate that Guantanamo Bay is still open, and that there are still allegations of torture taking place there. We should be doing everything we can to close the detention center and ensure that detainees are treated with dignity and respect.
It is concerning to think that someone who may have witnessed torture is now serving as a governor. If these allegations are proven to be true, it raises serious questions about DeSantis’s character and fitness to hold public office.