Former Guantanamo detainee says Ron DeSantis watched him being tortured: report

UPDATE: A New York Times investigation published on Sept. 24, 2023 stated that reporters had been unable to confirm Mansoor Adayfi's claims that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was involved in prisoner maltreatment. "An examination of military records and interviews with detainees’ lawyers and service members who served at the same time as Mr. DeSantis found no evidence to back up the claims," the Times wrote. "The New York Times interviewed more than 40 people who served with Mr. DeSantis or around the same time and none recalled witnessing or even hearing of any episodes like the ones Mr. Adayfi described."

A Yemeni citizen who was held for 14 years at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba has told The Independent that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis witnessed him being tortured while he was stationed there.

Mansoor Adayfi said he was being force-fed as he and other prisoners were on a hunger strike in 2006 and claimed that DeSantis was present for at least one of the force-feeding sessions. Military records show DeSantis was stationed on the base as a lawyer between March 2006 and January 2007. Adayfi's claims have not been independently verified.

As The Independent points out, the United Nations has deemed the force-feeding of hunger-striking prisoners as torture -- a distinction that the U.S. government disagrees with.

Adayfi claims that DeSantis had told him he was there for the detainees’ welfare. An investigation by The Independent found that part of DeSantis' role at the base was to field concerns and complaints from prisoners.

"Mr DeSantis has not responded to several requests from The Independent for comment on the allegations and for clarity about his role in the notorious prison camp," The Independent's report stated. "As an assumed candidate for the 2024 election, Mr. DeSantis is likely to face questions about this time in his career and what impact — if any — witnessing the treatment of Guantanamo detainees has had on his politics."

Adayfi says he was strapped to a chair by his head, hands, waist and feet, and a feeding tube was forced into his nose. "He was bleeding and vomiting and screaming while an assortment of uniformed military personnel watched from the side," according to The Independent.

“He was watching, and I was really screaming, crying,” Adayfi said. “I was bleeding and throwing up. We were in the block yard, so they were close to the fence.”

Adayfi was released from the camp and was never charged. He now lives in Belgrade, Serbia.

Read the full report over at The Independent.