User:MalachiteGuy123/sandbox

In the "Notable Historical Instances" section I would include a segment about the hunger strikes Dick Gregory participated himself in. He fasted during the Vietnam war as a form of protest.


 * Recent example of a hunger strike

2013 California prisoner hunger strike.

Nearly 30,000 California prison inmates organized and refused food to protest the inhumane conditions they live within prison. Actions include skipping classes, ditching work assignments, and refusing food. Although no major (immediate) change occurred for the prisoners, more hunger strikes (or protest of some sort) will be enacted if demands are not met. With that, in response, The department claimed to have instituted reforms to its solitary confinement policies in 2012. Since then, more than 300 "Security Housing Unit" inmates have either been transferred back to the general population or are taking part in a program to gradually return them there, it said. (CITE) (https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/us/california-hunger-strike/index.html)

It is important to note the corrections department does not acknowledge a hunger strike until inmates have missed nine consecutive meals.(CITE) Awareness for maltreatment of prisoners has steadily been increasing. For example in 2011, inmates participated in a series of hunger strikes to raise awareness for the poor conditions they are subjected to. About 12,000 prisoners in at least a third of California’s 33 prisons participated in that strike, making the 2013 strike (CITE) almost three times as large. (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/california-prison-hunger-strike-30000_n_3567639.html)

https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1973/11/28/dick-gregory-speaks-about-his-protest-fast-against-war-vietnam - Here Dick Gregory talks about his protest fast against the war in Vietnam

- Here are some benefits of fasting. https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/health-benefits-of-fasting/

When the state is able to hold custody of a prisoner/participant in a hunger fast, they are legally able to end the fast through force-feeding.

I think it's important to mention what the laws of force-feeding are and the rights of prisoners who choose to participate in a hunger strike. - http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1575-06202013000100003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en

Sources state that the ancient Greeks believed that medical treatment could be observed from nature. (CITE) Humans, like most animals, do not eat when they become sick. For this reason, fasting has been called the ‘physician within’. Fasting is ingrained into human heritage, and as old as mankind itself. In addition, the ancient Greeks believed that fasting improves cognitive abilities. Think about the last time you ate a huge Thanksgiving meal. Did you feel more energetic and mentally alert afterwards? Or, instead did you feel sleepy and a little dopey? More likely the latter. Blood is shunted to your digestive system to cope with the huge influx of food, leaving less blood going to the brain. Result – food coma.

There is a great deal of notable intellectuals who have spoken positively of fasting. For example, Philip Paracelsus(CITE) claimed fasting to be the greatest remedy as well as beleiving it is the physician within. Also, Benjamin Franklin(CITE) claimed 'resting' and 'fasting' to be the best of all medicines.

In addition to this all, fasting for spiritual purposes is widely practiced, and remains part of virtually every major religion in the world. There is a shared belief between Jesus Christ, Buddha and the prophet Muhammed and that is the healing abilities of fasting. (https://idmprogram.com/fasting-a-history-part-i/)


 * Legality of Hunger Strikes*

It is unfortunate to prisoners that the Declaration is silent on the question of whether a doctor may provide medical treatment once a hunger striker has reached the point where he is no longer capable of rational thought. In this article it is submitted that a doctor would be legally entitled to do so. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1943507) Therefore many people who participate in hunger strikes do not get the treatment necessary for survival or a healthy state of being.

International customs has set forth a ban on practices such as force-feeding which have been shown and referenced to as 'torture.' (CITE) (https://timep.org/commentary/analysis/hunger-striking-legal-approach/)

TREATMENT OF PROTESTORS

84 out of 166 prisoners held at the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanmo Bay, have committed to a hunger strike to protest their maltreatment. Furthermore, 16 of those prisoners have been force-fed through tubes inserted into their noses and down to their stomachs(CITE)