April 28, 2023

Rhonda Santis had one of his patented hissy fits when he was asked by a journalist in Jerusalem about allegations he stood by, laughing and smiliing, while Guantanamo inmates were forcibly fed during a hunger strike -- something the U.N. Commission on Human Rights labels torture. Via The Independent:

The moment occurred as Mr DeSantis gave a press conference at the Museum of Tolerance, a cultural centre in the Israeli territory of West Jerusalem. His visit to the Middle East comes as the Florida governor is thought to be preparing a bid for the Republican nomination against Donald Trump and others in 2024.

At the press conference, Mr DeSantis was questioned about claims from a former Guantanamo detainee who was held without being charged for more than a decade at the notorious military prison accused him of being present for episodes where he was force-fed by guards to break a hunger strike.

Mansoor Adayfi, a Yemeni citizen who was held for 14 years at Gitmo, told The Independent in March that he was brutally force-fed by camp staff during a hunger strike in 2006, and that Mr DeSantis was present for at least one of those sessions. Force-feeding is designated as torture by the United Nations.

“Do you honestly believe that’s credible? It’s ... 2006, I’m a junior officer, do you honestly think that they would’ve remembered me?” Mr DeSantis shot back angrily.

I dunno. Eyewitness accounts are pretty much how Nazis were convicted during the Nuremberg trials. I imagine the image of your torturers would stick with you. (Plus, another inmate also remembers DeSantis being there!)

“I don’t remember exactly when DeSantis came because we had no watch, no calendar, nothing,” Mr Adayfi told The Independent. “He came to talk to us along [with] others – medical staff and interpreters. And we explained to him why we were on hunger strike. And he told us, ‘I’m here to ensure that you get treated humanely and properly.’ We were talking about our problems with the brothers, the torture, the abuses, the no healthcare.”

Now, here's the thing. Bobblehead Ron last month deflected when Piers Morgan asked about it.

And here he is in 2018, admitting that part of his job as legal advisor was authorizing Gitmo management it was okay to force-feed inmates during a hunger strike.

We already know he's a liar. Now it sure seems likely that Mansour Adayfi's account of DeSantis standing by and smiling as they were force-fed indicates he's also a sadistic bastard.

The U.S. did awful things in Gitmo. I can't see Ron DeSantis having the moral spine to say no.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon