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Occupation magazine - Life under occupation Home page  back Print  Send To friend Palestinian prisoner’s hunger strike in Israel reaches its 41th day Physicians for Human Rights Press release 4.6.2014 http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=116&ItemID=1920 Despite objections of Medical professionals and in violations of medical ethics, Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has instructed to expedite a legislation that will enable force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners currently undergoing hunger strike as protest against their administrative detention Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-IL) calls on the government to release all administrative detainees, and urges the Israeli medical community to denounce and fight the force-feeding bill Pressure on Israel is increasing as the hunger strike continues. Every day more and more Palestinian detainees are joining the prisoners’ strike in solidarity with the administrative detainees, and the number of participants now stands at about 300. Ninety of those—the administrative detainees who began the hunger strike—are now on their 41th day of hunger. Around 70 have been transferred to inpatient care in public hospitals, in light of prior preparation of hospitals and the Ministry of Health state (more details below.) For the past year the Israeli government has been promoting a bill that aims to permit the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike. The bill came into existence following the mass hunger strike in 2012, which ended in an agreement with the strikers and the release of some of the administrative detainees. According to media reports, on Monday June 2nd, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the acceleration of the bill’s passage through the legislature. The bill was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on 18.5.14 and will next go to a vote in the Knesset. The concern is that the Prime Minister will order a fast-tracked approval of the law so that it can be utilised in the government’s dealings with the current hunger strikers. The force-feeding and forced care outlined in the bill would constitute serious violations of human rights and medical ethics, including the following: Legalisation of torture through regulating and allowing the forced feeding and forced care of the hunger strikers; improper use of medicine and/or doctors for political advantage; contravention of domestic law, of patient rights declarations, and of numerous international conventions. The Israel Medical Association has expressed a firm stance against this bill and called on physicians not to act in a manner which contravenes medical ethics. The National Council on Bioethics, the professional body which advises the Israeli government on these issues, has recommended the bill be rejected outright. In attempts to stop the bill from being approved, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel called for the intervention of the World Medical Association and the World Health Organization. The details of the bill and the statements of its proponents reveal clear motives behind this legislative efforts. The position outlined by the Prime Minister at a cabinet meeting likewise leaves no room for doubt regarding these motives. The only way the State of Israel is choosing to deal with non-violent protests by Palestinian prisoners is to suppress them. Instead of examining the policies of detention of Palestinians, the State of Israel is using force to break the protest of the hunger strike and the strikers. In response to the resistance of professional bodies, and the call of the IMA for doctors to act only in accordance with medical ethics, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting that there would certainly be doctors willing to carry out the force-feeding and forcible care of prisoners. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel firmly believes in the strength and resilience of the Israeli medical community’s ethical stance, and in its ability to fight the low proposal. Doctors will not be complicit with torture, and will not violate medical ethics. PHR-IL calls upon all healthcare professionals to do everything in their power to prevent the approval of this bill. Strike Facts and updates Access to independent doctors: Physicians for Human Rights-IL submitted tens of requests to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) for independent doctors to visit and support hunger strikers who had been hospitalized in Kaplan, Meir, Ichilov and Ha-Emek, all governmental hospitals. A response from the IPS was received yesterday, 03.06.14, stating that all requests for hospital visitations must be directly approved by them. PHR-IL hopes that coordination between hospitals and the IPS will not be hampered by unnecessary bureaucracy which will stand in the way of the hunger strikers’ access to independent physicians. All hunger strikers should have access to adequate medical care and follow-up by a doctor with whom they can establish trust relationships, and authorities treating hunger strikers must abide by the ethical and professional standards of medical care. IPS reaction to the hunger strike: The Israeli Prison Service has responded with sanctions and punishments of the hunger strikers, including solitary confinement, intrusive searches and violent cell raids, the denial of family visits and ongoing restrictions on meetings between strikers and their lawyers. PHR-IL stresses that hunger strikes are an accepted form of non-violent protest and should not be met with punitive measures. It is the only available course of action for administrative detainees. The IPS should therefore not be imposing the aforementioned punishments on hunger strikers. Access to hospitals: In accordance with the directives of Israel`s Ministry of Health (MOH) a prisoner on hunger strike must be transferred to a civilian hospital on the 28th day of their strike. These directives were issued in January 2013 following PHR-IL’s consistent calls for hunger strikers to be admitted to public civilian hospitals. In early May, following a meeting between the IPS and the heads of trauma units at various hospitals, several decisions were reached, including the following: a) Hunger striking prisoners are to be dispersed in various civilian hospitals in order to prevent the overloading of hospitals. It was agreed that each hospital would receive approximately 10 hunger striking patients. b) MOH directives that all hunger strikers are to be admitted to hospital on the 28th day were changed to require hospitalisation on the 35th day. However, it was agreed that on the 28th day all hunger strikers would be referred to a civilian hospital for examination. PHR-IL`s volunteer doctors working in hospitals have reported the shackling of hunger strikers and the presence of many prison guards. They stress the difficulty in treating hunger strikers under such conditions, primarily due to lack of privacy and medical confidentiality. Adequate and ethical medical care: The treatment of so many hunger strikers poses a great challenge to the medical community as it demands special professional and ethical attention. In a meeting held by the Israel Medical Association (IMA) on May 28th there was an attempt to reach a consensus around the proper conduct and treatment of hunger strikers, and it was agreed that they are first and foremost patients. In addition, the IMA leadership made it extremely clear that forced feeding was completely and utterly prohibited. Some points of concern may require further attention and discussion: Clarification should be reached as to what can be done once a hunger striker loses consciousness. Artificial feeding is ethically acceptable only with the hunger striker`s explicit or implied consent. It is crucial to establish a relationship of trust with the patient to allow for an open and honest dialogue. Legislation to allow forced feeding: The passage of legislation promoting force-feeding is underway. On May 18th 2014, Israel`s ministerial committee approved the Proposed Amendment to the Prisons Act [New Form] (Preventing Damages due to Hunger Strikes), 2013. Although the IMA and the National Bioethics Committee strongly object to this legislation and the medical participation it requires, government support of such conduct may erode the firm stance currently taken against it. PHR-IL expresses its fear that government`s pressure to promote this legislation will increase as the strike reaches its crucial stages. PHR-IL Activities: PHR-IL has addressed international medical organizations such as the World Health Organization, the World Medical Association and the Special Rapporteurs on Torture and on the Right to Health, to publicly denounce the proposed amendment due to: a) Its violation of a long line of principles of medical ethics, international treaties and declarations, and existing domestic legislation. b) Its falling under legal provisions granting amnesty, and other measures providing for de facto or de jure impunity in violation of the prohibition of torture. In the face of the ongoing hunger strike, PHR-IL`s appeal to these international bodies stresses the urgency of such denunciation due to the danger the proposed amendment poses to those currently taking part in the hunger strike. Links to the latest articles in this section Occupation forces injure mourners following funeral of slain infant Mohammad Tamimi Nabi Saleh village assaulted - toddler shot in the head died in hospital Palestinians in the snow: thrown from home into the snow, throw snowballs and get arrested