In our modern world, where technology improves each day and where it is virtually impossible to Google a question and not come up with some (albeit often inaccurate) answer, it might come as a surprise that much is easily hidden from the general public. When it comes to politics and world affairs, it is expected that we won’t know every detail of every decision that the national government makes. There is, however, a certain level of transparency necessary to sustain a functioning democratic society. And though I would like to think that such a progressive administration would be preserving and respecting the right of citizens to know what the government is doing, the notion simply is not upheld.
The Obama administration is currently attempting to appeal and subsequently overturn the recent ruling that videos that show the torturous tube-feedings of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay should be disclosed and available to the public. They claim that even though force-feeding is “not abusive,” releasing videos of this nature could mean affecting security situations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The government owes its people a certain level of transparency, especially when a modern-day concentration camp is being maintained under the administration. Appealing this decision is a cop-out and undoubtedly an attempt to avoid controversy and public outrage at the many injustices that are common occurrences at Guantanamo Bay.
There is more than one glaring problem with this story. Firstly, the obvious moral and ethical dilemma posed when our government regards force-feeding, in which tubes are shoved up the nose and down the esophagus of an individual against his/her will, is considered completely necessary, not abusive, and best for the individual in question. The standard procedure for tube-feeding at the glorified camp involves the detainee being shackled to a chair as tubes are pushed down multiple orifices, restrained at the head if he resists and strapped back into the chair if he vomits afterwards, until the food is digested. This process is painful and humiliating. It strips a person of their innate dignity and self worth and is undoubtedly a form of torture. The act has conveniently been referred to by the Pentagon as a “medical response” to hunger strike, and President Obama even vouched his support for it, saying that he simply did not want to see anyone die. Because, as we all know, extreme torture and its debilitating effect is a much better way to live. The World Medical Association and the American Medical Association both rejected the use of force-feeding, saying it violated “core ethical values of the medical profession.” Although the practice is abhorred in the medical world, it is still being used at Guantanamo Bay. Now that footage is ready to be shown to the public, the Obama administration might be having some second thoughts on their policies regarding its utilization.
The only way to get any sort of change is to involve the public: Shock them, enrage them and make them question how our country treats its so-called prisoners. By overturning the release of these videos, the Obama administration is protecting no one but themselves. It undoubtedly brings up the question of why this level of secrecy is necessary if the government isn’t doing anything wrong. The argument that this release could spark conflict elsewhere, a completely irrational one that relies on baseless assumptions, is not enough to overturn the ruling.
Refusing to let citizens of this country know what exactly is happening at this U.S. facility is a huge injustice — it leaves us ignorant and will indubitably affect the way we vote, view certain controversial policies and speak out about maltreatment and oppression on a broader local and national sphere. We cannot speak out about something we have not seen, which the government knows very well. A successful appeal to this ruling will have far greater implications than the continuation of the already horrendous treatment of individuals at Guantanamo Bay — it will mean the acceptance of government willfully and wrongfully hiding their unacceptable actions from the public, leaving us with no voice, no knowledge and no power.