[Ppnews] Palestine - Joint Statement: Hunger strikes, force feeding and imprisonment

[Political Prisoner News]

  http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=627


  Joint Statement: Hunger strikes, force feeding and imprisonment

/Occupied Ramallah, 31 July 3013/ - Following the growing international 
discourse surrounding hunger strikes and force-feeding of Palestinians 
in Israeli prisons, detainees in the United States Guantanamo Bay 
detention camp and California prisons, we the undersigned Palestinian 
and Israeli civil society organizations, express our solidarity with 
hunger striking prisoners and detainees across the globe and express our 
opposition to the suppression of legitimate protests through severe 
punitive measures and force feeding.

In the past two years we have witnessed the unique and unprecedented 
growth of prisoner protests. These global protests have been mainly led 
by political prisoners, such as - Kurdish prisoners in Turkey, 
multinationals in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camp, 
Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Bahraini and Tunisian prisoners of 
conscience, political prisoners in Russia and China and many others. 
Prisoners are protesting for various reasons, including the very essence 
of the "offences" that led to their incarceration, their mistreatment 
and the deleterious prison conditions. We have also witnessed the 
largest ever hunger strike in the United States, with an estimated 
30,000 prisoners taking part in California prisons at its outset.

These unprecedented protests highlight the historical policy of 
criminalizing political resistance to occupation and oppression, 
poverty, social and ethnic diversity, and asylum seeking. The protests 
have also drawn attention to unfair economic and social policies which 
are the leading causes of imprisonment.

/"The majority of prisoners worldwide come from economically and 
socially disadvantaged back-grounds, most suffer from poverty, 
unemployment, lack of housing, broken families, histories of 
psychological problems and mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse and 
[…] Many are in prison for non-violent or minor offences."*[1]* /(The 
Office on Drugs and Crime of the United Nations, states in its report of 
2006)

More than 10.1 million women, men and children are held in prisons 
throughout the world. Almost half of these are in the United States, 
Russia or China.[2] On the pretense that denial of liberty makes 
societies and countries safer or more secure, many governments around 
the world are engaging in systematic cruel and inhuman punishment as 
well as torture. However, it has been shown that imprisonment is 
counterproductive and does not promote safety and security, and it 
weakens the social and political structure causing the loss of jobs, 
damage to relationships and family ties, exacerbation of psychological 
and mental conditions, deterioration of physical health, and continued 
or increased drug abuse.

Furthermore, the use of imprisonment perpetuates racist and xenophobic 
perceptions toward indigenous people, social, religious and racial 
minorities and other societies, and marginalized communities, portraying 
them as a threat to the social and world order because of their presumed 
criminality.

*Current Situation:*

*Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory: *

*The Protest:* 12 Palestinian political prisoners and detainees (five of 
which hold Jordanian citizenship) are currently engaged in hunger 
strikes protesting their political persecution, arbitrary detention, 
hostile policies and inhumane prison conditions. The periods of their 
strike range from 31 to 95 days. These hunger strikes have been on-going 
since the second half of 2011.

*State reaction:* The Government of Israel is currently drafting a 
proposed bill that would allow the force-feeding of Palestinian 
political prisoners on hunger-strike. The proposed bill by the Justice 
Ministry as well as security and intelligence agencies is clearly 
designed to subdue the prisoners. We believe that medical decision 
making, both professionally and ethically, should not in any 
circumstances be regulated and controlled by political interests or 
security agencies.

*United States:*

*US Guantanamo Detention Camp, Cuba*

*The Protest: *Since February 2013, a considerable number of detainees 
have engaged in a hunger strike in protest of their indefinite detention 
without trial and in opposition to the mistreatment they endure from the 
prison authorities.

*State Reaction: *Many of the hunger striking prisoners have been force 
fed, and others have also been threatened with force feeding.

*Californian Prisons, including Pelican Bay Supermax Facility, United 
States*

*The Protest:* Some 30,000 prisoners launched a mass hunger strike in 
July 2013, protesting unjust living conditions and mass segregation into 
what the state calls "Secure Housing Units," (SHUs) where prisoners are 
held in solitary confinement indefinitely. Currently, there are just 
under 1,000 prisoners engaged in the strike.

*State Reaction: *The prison authorities have taken several measures in 
an attempt to break the strike includingthreatening prisoners with force 
feeding; isolating leaders of the strike; revocation of family visits 
and mail; banning of lawyers visits; and denying prisoners access to 
their legal files.

*Conclusion: ** *

It is evident that states are unwilling to change their policies of 
imprisonment as doing so would entail both political and social 
challenges and changes. Instead they are thus busy justifying it, 
subduing protests in prisons and criticism from civil society. However, 
it is crucial to address the precarious situation of one of the most 
vulnerable segments of society – prisoners in general and those 
prisoners on hunger strike in particular. Under no circumstances should 
force feeding ever be used; the choice of legalizing and conducting 
force-feeding is equal to legalizing torture and inhuman treatment; 
while medical ethics and professionalism should be paramount in the 
treatment of such protests, and must be followed and respected.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Custodial and non-custodial measures: alternatives to incarceration. 
United Nations, Office on Drugs and Crime. New York.2006

http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/cjat_eng/3_Alternatives_Incarceration.pdf

[2] 
http://www.scribd.com/doc/77097293/World-Prison-Population-List-9th-edition




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