In an address on National Security on May 21st at the National Defense College the President specifically condemned the practice of force feeding of detainees in a candid comment responding to a disruptive audience member. Yesterday, District Judge Gladys Kessler dismissed a petition for legal injunction filed on behalf of a detainee to end the practice, but asked that the administration intervene. The World Medical Association has spoken out against the practice of force feeding of detainees on the basis of insufficient legal and ethical grounds for involuntary medical treatment. We ask that the administration put an end to this inhumane and degrading treatment and see no reason why the President should be unable to act on his own initiative in this case.



