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"While in custody, you will be subjected to whatever torture is necessary to protect you from yourself."

Frame it however you want. The government should not let people starve themselves to death in prisons. Facing justice is not an easy thing, enough to drive people to psychological extremes. But life goes on even for prisoners.

I'd be interested to know how a starving individual being kept in solitary confinement in a cold cell in standing water, regularly subjected to treatment intended to apply physical and psychological pressure, could be framed as anything other than torture.

I would also argue that if the government focused more on not torturing people and instead treating them with basic human dignity, it wouldn't have to deal with quite so many hunger strikes.

That's a separate issue than keeping people alive. But yes, I agree that torture is a bad thing.

But I also have a healthy skepticism for potentially self-serving claims made by people facing criminal charges.

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