Sharon Zhang, Truthout || UN experts have expressed “grave concern” for the lives of imprisoned pro-Palestine activists on hunger strike in the U.K., reminding U.K. authorities of their responsibility to protect the health of the activists after reports of neglect.
The experts emphasized that the state has a “heightened, not diminished” responsibility to take care of people when they are on hunger strike. This means that the U.K. must ensure that activists have ready access to medical care if they need it, and that authorities must not take retaliatory actions against them.
“Hunger strike is often a measure of last resort by people who believe that their rights to protest and effective remedy have been exhausted,” the experts said.
The statement was signed by eight UN experts, including Gina Romero, UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly; Irene Khan, UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestinian rights.
A group of eight Palestine Action-linked activists in pre-trial detention have been on a rolling hunger strike for nearly two months, with four of them having refused food for over 50 days now. They are demanding an end to the U.K.’s ban on Palestine Action, bail for the imprisoned activists, and a shutdown of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, which has a U.K. branch.
Last week, one of the activists, Qesser Zuhrah, was in urgent need of medical care amid her strike, but U.K. authorities delayed sending an ambulance for hours, advocates said. After pressure from activists, an ambulance was sent, and Zuhrah was taken to the hospital. Two others have previously been taken to the hospital multiple times amid their strike.
The UN experts warned that the strikers are at risk of serious complications, including organ failure, permanent damage, and death, and noted that there have been numerous reports of other neglect from the activists amid the strike.
“These reports raise serious questions about compliance with international human rights law and standards, including obligations to protect life and prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the experts said.
The government has faced harsh criticism from human rights advocates for their neglect of the prisoners.
“The idea that people would be incentivised to kill themselves in order to get bail – put themselves at risk because that’s what they’re doing – is ludicrous,” said Michael Mansfield, a top human rights lawyer in the U.K., to The Guardian this week. “They [ministers] have to take this seriously as a genuine act of conscientious objection that they’re making. It’s not going to encourage loads of others any more than the Irish ones encouraged loads of others.”
UN experts also noted that the government’s harsh punishment of pro-Palestine activists, including terrorism charges for the group of imprisoned Palestine Action-linked activists known as the Filton 24, has also previously raised concerns of human rights violations.
“These hunger strikes must be understood within the broader context of restrictions on pro-Palestinian activism in the U.K.,” the experts said in their statement.
“Preventable deaths in custody are never acceptable. The State bears full responsibility for the lives and wellbeing of those it detains,” the statement went on. “Urgent action is required now.”
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