…[A]ccording to the World Medical Assembly’s Declaration of Malta, in cases involving people on hunger strikes, the duty of medical personnel to act ethically and the principle of respect for individuals’ autonomy, among other principles, must be respected. Under these principles, it is unjustifiable to engage in forced feeding of individuals contrary to their informed and voluntary refusal of such a measure. Moreover, hunger strikers should be protected from all forms of coercion, even more so when this is done through force and in some cases through physical violence. Health care personnel may not apply undue pressure of any sort on individuals who have opted for the extreme recourse of a hunger strike. Nor is it acceptable to use threats of forced feeding or other types of physical or psychological coercion against individuals who have voluntarily decided to go on a hunger strike.The UN has also called for an immediate end to the indefinite detention without charge or trial of 166 prisoners at Gitmo, warning, "the continuing and indefinite detention of individuals without the right to due process is arbitrary and constitutes a clear violation of international law. This situation is particularly clear with respect to those prisoners—at least 86—who have been cleared for transfer by the Government of the United States of America,"
If we as individuals within a society believe in law and order, if we believe in obedience to the international courts of law established by all signatory nations freely and without reservation, if we believe that any contravention of that law should be dealt with firmly and justly, then we need to be making sure that our government is respecting the rule of international law by insisting that our local government representatives, within whatever democratic framework we live in (be it parliamentary or republican representation) obey those laws and insist on their enforcement.
To fail to do so would mean the eventual collapse of the United Nations in much the same manner as its predecessor the League of Nations and would render international law pointless and the risk of a descent into global anarchy inevitable.
