Footage of US military officials force feeding a Guantanamo Bay detainee could soon be public. That's according to two rulings by a federal judge, the latest on Friday, ordering the US government to hurry up and redact the faces and voices of prison staff.

A host of media groups have demanded the release of the tapes of Abu Wa'el Dhiab, a Syrian hunger-striking prisoner who was released from the prison in December—12 years after he was brought there. The groups say the footage will provide the public, for the first time, images of how detainees are being treated if they refuse to eat. A Department of Defense image of a feeding chair (shown above) allows US military officials to strap in hunger-striking detainees and forcibly feed them, likely through intravenous tubes.

It's common for captives to refuse to eat at the US military prison, based in Cuba. Some hunger strikes have been known to attract more than 100 detainees.

There are about 116 captives remaining following Guantanamo Bay's 2002 creation in the wake of the September, 2001 terror attacks on US soil.

On Friday, US District Judge Gladys Kessler of the District of Columbia ruled that it was time for the government to quit stonewalling and release the footage of Dhiab. She termed the government's failed appeal of her October ruling demanding the Justice Department to release the videos as "frivolous."

According to Kessler's ruling: (PDF)

The only thing consistent about the Government's position has been its constant plea for more time. However, as the Court learned at the Status Conference, the Government has failed, after having managed to stall for nine months by filing a truly frivolous Appeal with the Court of Appeals, to use the additional time it has already received. In the months since the Court ordered redaction and release of the 32 videotapes, the Government has made almost no progress in completing its redactions.

Cori Crider, the attorney for Dhiab who was released to Uruguay, said in a statement that the government "has been kicking and screaming to avoid processing even one minute of this footage."

Judge Kessler said eight tapes immediately at issue must be redacted by August 31 and that there will be "no extensions of time granted."

The government's first appeal to the judge's October decision was rejected because it was premature. Among other reasons, the videos were not ready for public release. Once the videos are ready to be distributed to the media, the government is likely to appeal again.

The media organizations involved in the case include ABC, Associated Press, Bloomberg, CBS, Dow Jones, the Intercept, the Guardian, Hearst, McClatchy, NPR, The New York Times, Reuters, Tribune Publishing, USA Today and The Washington Post.