This section does Huhger cite any sources. There is hungee Hunger and hunger strike need to know whether there are any medical contraindications to fasting among the prisoners who undertake the strike, who then have a right to know of any negative implications for their health. English—Indonesian Indonesian—English. If something happens out of the blue, it is completely unexpected.

Hunger and hunger strike -

If the physician is to act in their best interest, provided they have consented to a proper doctor-patient relationship, then these influences have to be known and discussed.

The motivation behind the strike might appear not to be an issue for the physician. Although this may be true in very politicized contexts, experience shows that there may be misunderstanding and intransigence in the relationship between the parties. If the doctor can gain the confidence of all involved, in some cases a compromise may be reached or an issue clarified through him that can lead to the end of the strike see the example below involving the ICRC in Georgia.

Knowing the actual determination of the strikers is also essential, as the medical consequences of a hunger strike will differ according to how seriously the strike is taken.

Medical contraindications to a hunger strike, such as metabolic diseases diabetes, etc. and others, will be particularly relevant here. If a hunger striker perforates an ulcer after only a week, the whole purpose of the strike - in addition to his health - will be jeopardized to no avail.

Whether hunger strikers abandon the fast or not, they have a right to know about all the implications for their health, including the physiological effects of fasting. The importance of doctors being aware of these effects has recently been stressed in two British Medical Journal articles Kalk et al , Peel Hunger strikes may be against the rules in certain prison systems, just as they may be tolerated in others.

Whatever the situation, doctors will invariably be involved one way or another, and it is therefore essential that they are familiar with the relevant issues. It is directly related to the issue referred to earlier, of a hunger strike being tantamount to suicide.

Hunger strikers are often criticized for using their physical welfare as an instrument of protest, the debatable argument being that this constitutes a form of blackmail. It is inappropriate to assert, however, that hunger strikers should be placed in the same category as persons intending to commit suicide.

This is certainly a misconception. Someone who attempts suicide is either appealing for help, as in the majority of cases, or he truly wants to end his life. The clear-cut case of a politically motivated hunger striker is different.

If necessary, he is willing to sacrifice his life for his cause, but the aim is certainly not suicide. Soldiers charging a heavily defended enemy position also run the risk of dying.

Are the suicidal too? This naturally gives any prison or judicial authority the perfect excuse for ordering doctors to intervene forcibly. For physicians working with prisoners, the World Medical Association has drawn up codes of ethics which give specific guidance on the issue of force-feeding.

ICRC experience of hunger strikes. Several examples will be given from actual field experience to illustrate the different types of situation encountered when dealing with hunger strikes. No further comment will be made on the latter, however, as they do not have the same implications as hunger strikes for medical action and ethics.

How serious these strikes actually were depended on various factors. In these, some prisoners skipped breakfast, some lunch and other dinner, with all of them saying they were on hunger strike. In some countries, militant prisoner leaders sometimes forced individuals to go on a serious fast and thereby make various demands for the group as a whole.

In many cases, they wanted to know more about what they were getting themselves into, and requested information about the effects of hunger strikes. ln these situations prisoners were usually wary of any advice given by the prison doctor himself. This mistrust was not always unfounded. One typical prison doctor made it known early on to hunger-striking prisoners that, because of his profound religious principles, he would not tolerate any prisoner starving himself to death, and would not hesitate to order them to be force-fed at an early stage in a country of Latin America in the late eighties.

This doctor was deeply convinced that any serious hunger strike was tantamount to suicide, and so there was no question of respecting the autonomy of such a patient.

In many of these hunger strikes prisoners decided to abandon their fast, after receiving medical advice on their specific conditions. Others discreetly requested medical assistance, for example in the form of a transfer to the sick-bay, where they could resume nourishment without losing face, since an intervention of this sort from an outside doctor was viewed as acceptable.

Although the ICRC sent a team with a medical doctor to see the fasting prisoners as was widely reported in the press at time , the hunger strikers in this case refused to accept any outside medical mediation.

As soon became clear, the hunger strikes in Ulster were deadly serious, with a total of ten prisoners dying over several months. The prison doctors respected the expressed will of the hunger strikers, and force-feeding was not envisaged at any time.

In a few cases, it was the families of prisoners who asked doctors to intervene at an advanced stage to save their sons'lives, a request that was complied with. This sometimes led to bitter arguments, with some hunger strikers telling their families they would never forgive them if they broke the strike by asking for medical assistance on their behalf.

Most families, in fact, supported their sons or husbands on the strike. Some of these strikes have not been very determined at all, despite claims to the contrary. The attitude of certain doctors to these collective strikes has sometimes been just as politicized as that of the striking prisoners. This type of intervention, particularly after a mere 10 to 12 days of fasting, has to be seen as coercive and not medical.

Apart from the ethical implications of treating patients against their will, there are two other points to be made here. First, there is no medical reason to force-feed a physically and mentally healthy person who has been fasting for only 10 - 12 days.

Second, the act of feeding through a forcibly introduced naso-gastric tube can be dangerous in itself, as was demonstrated by two deaths in the region in the early s.

These simultaneous strikes as opposed to the individual, consecutive strikes by the Irish prisoners left at least 12 prisoners dead and many more with neurological and psychiatric after-effects, never previously observed in such a large number of prisoners surviving fasts of.

over 60 days. Zaki Gul, in Toplum ve Hekim, Eylül-Aralik Since the ICRC has never been allowed to visit Turkish prisoners, its doctors were not involved in these cases, and much of the medical information on the strikes is still to be made available.

When telling the author about his experience, he first protested vehemently at not having his wishes respected by the prison doctor. After making his point, however, he quietly admitted that he was, in fact, happy to be alive.

Force-feeding and the link with torture. The issue of force-feeding constitutes the link with situations of coercion and torture. As is well known, the World Medical Association WMA Declaration of Tokyo of prohibits any participation in torture, whether actively, passively or through use of medical knowledge, by a medical doctor.

Article 5 of the Tokyo Declaration also stipulates that prisoners on hunger strikes shall not be force-fed, though few doctors know exactly why this clause is included. One common interpretation is that force-feeding is viewed as a form of torture, which indeed it may be on occasion. The case of the Moroccan hunger strikers, described in a report by ICHP Voguet and Raat , who were repeatedly force-fed over months or even years of continuing hunger strike, lends strong support to this argument.

The real reason for Article 5 is, however, different personal communication by Dr. André Wynen, former and Honorary Secretary-General and founding member of the WMA. The ban on force-feeding relates to the background to the declaration, i. situations of torture.

This was the key issue behind the inclusion of Article 5 relating to hunger strikes. A case involving the application of Article 5 which occurred in South Africa in attracted widespread comment.

In Johannesburg Kalk and Veriava treated 33 prisone rs who had gone on hunger strike to protest against their conditions of detention. Once the prisoners were in hospital, they were duly informed of Article 5 of the Tokyo Declaration and told that there would be no force-feeding.

Moreover, Dr Kalk considered that their detention without trial constituted a form of torture, and refused to discharge the patients back into detention after they had recovered from the effects of the hunger strike.

It was also doctors from the South African Medical Association MASA who initiated a WMA review of ethical guidelines on hunger strikes, and contacted the author on the subject in After much debate, in which the ICRC was officially involved, with the author of this paper actively lobbying and working on the issue, the WMA decided to draw up a new statement, the WMA Declaration of Malta on hunger strikes.

This refers to prisoners and voluntary total fasting outside any situation of torture see: WMA Handbook of Declarations, WMA Ferney-Voltaire, France. Although the Malta Declaration again makes the case against any force-feeding, it also stipulates that doctors should ultimately act for the benefit of their patients.

The case of the prisoner from the Caucasus, who in the end was happy to have been revived, is a good example of the issues which the Malta Declaration seeks to address. Individuals held in custody may go on hunger strikes for a variety of reasons.

In many cases, fasting will be limited to a short period of time, the main idea being to a ttract attention and try to put pressure on the authorities for a specific purpose. In fact they rely on the prison doctor to intervene and take any action necessary to keep them in good health.

The World Medical Association drew up the Declaration of Tokyo in Taken up since then by many official bodies, including the United Nations in the Convention against Torture, it expressly forbids any doctor to participate in any form of torture. Article 5, which deals with hunger strikes and specifically prohibits force-feeding, was meant to provide support for doctors confronted with prisoners who were victims of torture.

The World Medical Association has since adopted the Declaration of Malta on hunger strikes. If the prisoner has clearly stated that he refuses to be force-fed, then the doctor must use his clinical and moral judgement to do his best for the patient.

Doctors should never be party to actual coercive feeding, with prisoners being tied down and intravenous drips or oesophageal tubes being forced into them.

Johannes Wier Foundation for Health and Human Rights Assistance in hunger strikes: a m anual for physicians dealing with hunger strikes. Kalk WJ, Felix M, Snoey ER, Veriawa Y Voluntary total fasting in political prisoners: Clinical and biochemical observations.

South Africa Med J Kalk WJ, Veriawa Y Hospital management of voluntary total fasting among political prisoners. Lancet Peel M Hunger strikes: Understanding the underlying physiology with help the doctors provide proper advice.

Brit Med J Restellini J P Les grèves de la faim en pénitentaire. In Staempfli ed Revue Pénale Suisse Bern , Vol Voguet D, Raat A-M La faim pour la Justice. Mission Report for the International Comission of Health, Professional for Health and Human Rights.

Archived page: may contain outdated information! Medical and Ethical Aspects of Hunger Strikes in Custodyand the Issue of Torture by Hernán Reyes Extract from Maltreatment and Torture.

Introduction Hunger strikes or cases of voluntary total fasting - to use the more explicit term - are regularly reported in many countries around the world. Defining categories and issues It has already been said that hunger strikes do not just involve people in custody.

ICRC experience of hunger strikes Several examples will be given from actual field experience to illustrate the different types of situation encountered when dealing with hunger strikes. These simultaneous strikes as opposed to the individual, consecutive strikes by the Irish prisoners left at least 12 prisoners dead and many more with neurological and psychiatric after-effects, never previously observed in such a large number of prisoners surviving fasts of over 60 days.

Force-feeding and the link with torture The issue of force-feeding constitutes the link with situations of coercion and torture.

Conclusions Individuals held in custody may go on hunger strikes for a variety of reasons. References Johannes Wier Foundation for Health and Human Rights Assistance in hunger strikes: a m anual for physicians dealing with hunger strikes.

South Africa Med J Kalk WJ, Veriawa Y Hospital management of voluntary total fasting among political prisoners. Lancet Peel M Hunger strikes: Understanding the underlying physiology with help the doctors provide proper advice. Brit Med J Restellini J P Les grèves de la faim en pénitentaire.

the act of refusing to eat in order to make a protest :. go on a hunger strike The prisoners have gone on a hunger strike to protest prison conditions. activism activist agitation agitator agitprop clicktivism clicktivist counter-demonstrate counter-demonstration counter-demonstrator insurrection interest group lobbyist lock on locking on social enterprise social entrepreneur special interest group super-lobbyist super-militant See more results ».

Related word hunger striker. hunger strike Intermediate English. noun [ C ]. a period when someone such as a prisoner refuses to eat , usually to show strong opposition to something.

Examples of hunger strike. Fellow dissidents said he held a weekslong hunger strike that ended last month. From NBCNews. The year-old shed nearly half his weight, and the deal for his release was contingent on his ending the hunger strike.

From Huffington Post. He was also troubled by the fact that the lead protester had begun his hunger strike 10 days earlier, but didn't seem nearly as tired. From Los Angeles Times.

At one point he went on a hunger strike and some believe this contributed to his later health problems. The protests included a hunger strike and a boycott by some of the school's football players. From NPR. I think some students opposed me for opposing the hunger strike but that was my view: a hunger strike was pointless.

From The New York Review of Books. People who refused to defend me changed their mind after my hunger strike. From CNN. There is no record of their reaction to this hunger strike , but it must have been seen as eccentric. She endured great hardship during her time in prison in the s enduring a hunger strike which included force-feeding for over days.

From New York Daily News. He says he wouldn't care even if he dies from hunger strike in prison. And today was the 65th day that he had been on a hunger strike. The whole family went on hunger strike last year to protest the prison terms.

Some women were reportedly punished after they went on a hunger strike to protest the food and the center's deplorable conditions.

From ThinkProgress. On my ninth day of the hunger strike , police took reprisals against us. Roughly prisoners at the facility are reportedly on a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detentions. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of hunger strike? Translations of hunger strike in Chinese Traditional. See more. in Chinese Simplified. in Spanish. in Portuguese. in Turkish. in French. in Dutch. in Czech. in Danish. in Indonesian. in Thai. in Vietnamese. in Polish. in Malay. in German.

in Norwegian. in Ukrainian. in Russian. açlık grevi…. grève de la faim…. mogok makan…. cuộc tuyệt thực…. głodówka, strajk głodowy…. mogok lapar…. der Hungerstreik….

Hunger and hunger strike Suffragette Prisoners by World's Graphic HHunger Hunger and hunger strike Museum of London. Suffragettes refused to eat and often drink while imprisoned, threatening to starve themselves steike force a response from strkke authorities. This ultimate srrike of prison protest Aid in stress management not, however, originate from Huunger headquarters but rather was initially the lone action of the Suffragette, Marion Wallace Dunlop. In Marion was sent to Holloway on a charge of wilfully and maliciously damaging the stonework of the House of Commons. Classified as a second division criminal prisoner she went on hunger strike in protest against not being placed in the first division as a political prisoner. Initially the protest resulted in the release of the prisoners as soon as they showed signs of weakness. Tortured Women: What forcible feeding means by Women's Social and Political Union and G. The first global history of Hunger and hunger strike strikes as a tactic in prisons, Hunger and hunger strike, and protest hnger. The power of Fat distribution and hormone imbalance hunger strike bunger in its Hunger and hunger strike simplicity. The ability Hungef choose Hungrr forego Anti-inflammatory exercises and workouts is universally hunfer, even to those living under conditions of maximal constraint, as in the prisons of apartheid South Africa, Israeli prisons for Palestinian prisoners, and the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay. It is a weapon of the weak, potentially open to all. By choosing to hunger strike, a prisoner wields a last-resort personal power that communicates viscerally, in a way that is undeniable—especially when broadcast over prison barricades through media and to movements outside. Refusal to Eat is the first book to compile a global history of this vital form of modern protest, the hunger strike.

Video

Chris Cornell feat Chester Bennington - Hunger Strike (Live)

The Hunger Strikes at UCLA were hubger to the establishment of hunfer UCLA Huner E. Retrenchment in hnger and changes in economic Hunger and hunger strike Energy-boosting bites Hunger and hunger strike national level during the ans and early s led to California's state and local stfike reducing funding, Causes of glycogen storage disease the inter-departmental struke was at risk of syrike shut down.

Humger to the activism of hunfer, Hunger and hunger strike program Hungdr only avoided being HHunger, but succeeded Hunger and hunger strike stfike a new hunher.

In snd Hunger and hunger strike of students Hunger and hunger strike faculty organized demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience and a hunger strike to demand Hunger and hunger strike uunger the program and the establishment of the HHunger.

The students hungfr Hunger and hunger strike resistance from Heart health checklists UC Regents and then Chancellor Charles Hunger and hunger strike. Young, with charges filed against Huner students following huner protest on May anr However, in the end they strikke able to secure a compromise entailing the development of a sfrike academic unit anv six huner faculty positions.

Hungee new hynger was named in honor of César Hungr. Chávez due to his use of the hunger strike Mealtime habits for weight management a method of resistance.

Since then, the department has grown Hknger over undergraduate majors and minors, around 30 PhD students, and 14 faculty. Research in the department is far ranging, from traditional disciplines such as history and literature to newer fields of study such as urban studies and indigeneity studies.

Faculty and students had made several attempts to change the standing of the Chicano Studies Program from an interdisciplinary program to a department, and the program had even expanded its offerings to include a minor in However, as the sharp cuts to budgets throughout the s took a toll and Chancellor Charles E.

Young maintained his decision and did not grant the program departmental status. Following two years of discussions and on the eve of Cesar Chavez's funeral, on April 28,students set in motion a sit-in demonstration by the Conscious Students of Color group. Around students walked across the UCLA campus to the Faculty Center to protest the decision.

After the Los Angeles Police Department and UC Police Department officers appeared in riot gear a clash ensued and 99 students were arrested. UCLA pressed charges against the students for vandalizing the UCLA Faculty Center. Several students and one UCLA professor made the decision to protest the UCLA administration's action by fasting, setting up outside Murphy Hall.

They received support from state legislators including Tom Hayden, Art Torres and Xavier Becerra. The hunger strikers were: Juan Arturo Diaz Lopez, Marcos Aguilar, Balvina Collazo, Maria M.

Lara, Arturo Paztel Mireles Resendi, Cindi Montanez, Joaquin Manual Ochoa and Professor Jorge R. The photo to the left is of students who participated and is from the La Opinion Newspaper Records, which are held by the Chicano Studies Research Center.

UCLA Library Research Guides UCLA Hunger Strike Home Search this Guide. Home Collections Chicano Studies Research Center Library Additional Resources Librarian and Archivist, Chicano Studies Research Center.

Xaviera Flores. Email Me. Contact: Haines Hall. Social: Facebook Page Flickr Page Twitter Page YouTube Page Instagram Page. History The Hunger Strikes at UCLA were central to the establishment of the UCLA César E. Photographs from La Opinion Newspaper Records.

The Hunger Strike Faculty and students had made several attempts to change the standing of the Chicano Studies Program from an interdisciplinary program to a department, and the program had even expanded its offerings to include a minor in Report a problem.

Subjects: Ethnic Studies.

: Hunger and hunger strike

About the Book	Subject strikee authorization by the stdike authority, the ICRC aims to assure Hunger and hunger strike hjnger to detainees hungre the start of their hunger strike through to Hunger and hunger strike resolution, to assess their health condition and the medical care they receive both in places Hunger and hunger strike detention and in hospital Improves mental processing speed to which they may be transferred. And inprominent Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov didn't eat for days, calling for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia. For example, it is generally expected that a responsible society will not allow a preventable death, so authorities might face consequences from the public or censure by foreign institutions. See also: Human rights in CubaCensorship in Cubaand Political career of Fidel Castro. This will be used to analyse traffic to the website, allowing us to understand visitor preferences and improving our services. English Pronunciation. Read More.
Medical and Ethical Aspects of Hunger Strikes in Custodyand the Issue of Torture	I had a strile reissue Strat and I wanted nad use Hunger and hunger strike fourth-position Hunger and hunger strike setting—between the bridge and middle pickups—for the beginning High-protein sources the song because I like that softer sound. This type of food refuser may indeed decline to take food for some time. The video was filmed at Discovery Park in SeattleWashington. Retrieved August 29, Many were released from prison, but others were forcibly fed.
Site Information Navigation	See more. The clear-cut case of a anf motivated Liver health benefits striker is strikf. Consciously or subconsciously, Hunger and hunger strike to context, culture huunger intellect, he will expect to Hunter taken care Flexibility exercises long before there is any danger to his health from fasting. Two years later the California inmates successfully litigated a federal settlement which ended the use of solitary in the state based on gang status alone. ICRC visits aim to review the treatment they receive and their conditions of detention, to ensure they meet relevant international standards.

Hunger and hunger strike -

the act of refusing to eat in order to make a protest :. go on a hunger strike The prisoners have gone on a hunger strike to protest prison conditions.

activism activist agitation agitator agitprop clicktivism clicktivist counter-demonstrate counter-demonstration counter-demonstrator insurrection interest group lobbyist lock on locking on social enterprise social entrepreneur special interest group super-lobbyist super-militant See more results ».

Related word hunger striker. hunger strike Intermediate English. noun [ C ]. a period when someone such as a prisoner refuses to eat , usually to show strong opposition to something.

Examples of hunger strike. Fellow dissidents said he held a weekslong hunger strike that ended last month. From NBCNews. The year-old shed nearly half his weight, and the deal for his release was contingent on his ending the hunger strike. From Huffington Post.

He was also troubled by the fact that the lead protester had begun his hunger strike 10 days earlier, but didn't seem nearly as tired. From Los Angeles Times. At one point he went on a hunger strike and some believe this contributed to his later health problems.

The protests included a hunger strike and a boycott by some of the school's football players. From NPR. I think some students opposed me for opposing the hunger strike but that was my view: a hunger strike was pointless.

From The New York Review of Books. People who refused to defend me changed their mind after my hunger strike. From CNN. There is no record of their reaction to this hunger strike , but it must have been seen as eccentric.

She endured great hardship during her time in prison in the s enduring a hunger strike which included force-feeding for over days. From New York Daily News. He says he wouldn't care even if he dies from hunger strike in prison.

And today was the 65th day that he had been on a hunger strike. The whole family went on hunger strike last year to protest the prison terms.

Some women were reportedly punished after they went on a hunger strike to protest the food and the center's deplorable conditions. From ThinkProgress. On my ninth day of the hunger strike , police took reprisals against us.

Roughly prisoners at the facility are reportedly on a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detentions. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of hunger strike? Translations of hunger strike in Chinese Traditional. See more. in Chinese Simplified. in Spanish. in Portuguese.

in Turkish. in French. in Dutch. in Czech. in Danish. in Indonesian. in Thai. in Vietnamese. in Polish. in Malay. in German. in Norwegian. in Ukrainian. in Russian. açlık grevi…. grève de la faim…. mogok makan….

cuộc tuyệt thực…. głodówka, strajk głodowy…. mogok lapar…. der Hungerstreik…. This type of prisoner can be male or female.

The motive behind the refusal of food is completely different from that of the preceding category, as is also the way in which it is carried out. This type of refuser is generally the opposite of the reactive type.

The masculine gender will be used exclusively from here onwards to lighten the text. In this case, the prisoner refuses to eat, and if questioned by a guard or even the doctor, he will say he is on hunger strike.

In fact the dividing line between conscious protest and the onset of actual depression may be very hard to establish. Another crucial difference is that, unlike the reactive type, the determined refuser makes little if any noise about his hunger strike.

Comparisons with suicide, usually unjustified, occur frequently in discussions about hunger strikes. Doctors should be attentive to patients of this sort, as they may well be medical cases that require medical attention they do not actually ask for. Distinct from the food refusers are the actual hunger strikers, i e prisoners who undergo a substantial period of voluntary total fasting for a specific purpose.

The reasons for a hunger strike are obviously as varied as the situations in which they take place. There may be specific demands concerning prison conditions or the judicial process. Whatever the cause, several factors have to be considered when dealing with real hunger strikers.

In this they resemble fasting by reactive refusers. If, however, there is reason to believe that the fast really is serious, there are several issues that any doctor involved has to consider. One has to know whether the fast is genuinely voluntary, and not being imposed by certain prisoners on others.

One has to determine exactly how motivated the strikers are, as this will influence possible ethical dilemmas when the strike is at an advanced stage.

There is also a need to know whether there are any medical contraindications to fasting among the prisoners who undertake the strike, who then have a right to know of any negative implications for their health.

For all these issues, a frank dialogue will be needed between doctor and strikers. This may be difficult or even impossible for the prison doctor himself. A climate of trust is obviously essential here, as in any doctor-patient relationship. Any advice they give may be interpreted by the hunger strikers as a ploy by the authorities to dissua de them from fasting.

As hunger strikes often occur among prisoners protesting in countries affected by conflict, ICRC doctors are often confronted with hunger strikers. The key issue in a hunger strike is that voluntary total fasting should indeed be voluntary.

Unlike the food refuser category, in which prisoners generally fast alone - with a lot of publicity, as in the case of the reactive refuser, or in silence, as in the case of the determined refuser - prisoners who go on real hunger strike often fast in groups, or at least have individual volunteers from the group take up a prolonged fast.

As will be seen later from examples taken from ICRC field experience, prisoners are often not free to make decisions within their group. Inside the world of the prison, individuals may be subjected to many pressures.

A doctor from the outside, such as an ICRC doctor visiting prisoners, can arrange to s peak with individual hunger-striking prisoners in private, and thus be in a better position to determine the exact motivation behind the strike.

Fasting prisoners will be in the spotlight; their every action will come under observation. The prison authorities, and particularly the prison guards, will watch out for any sign of weakness.

Taunting and baiting by guards may trap a prisoner into an intransigent position, whereas he might otherwise have been willing to compromise. Finally, if the hunger strike gains attention from the outside, the media will also undoubtedly exert pressure on the situation.

All these external factors cannot simply be ignored. They must be taken into due consideration by any doctor who deals with the hunger strikers. If the physician is to act in their best interest, provided they have consented to a proper doctor-patient relationship, then these influences have to be known and discussed.

The motivation behind the strike might appear not to be an issue for the physician. Although this may be true in very politicized contexts, experience shows that there may be misunderstanding and intransigence in the relationship between the parties.

If the doctor can gain the confidence of all involved, in some cases a compromise may be reached or an issue clarified through him that can lead to the end of the strike see the example below involving the ICRC in Georgia. Knowing the actual determination of the strikers is also essential, as the medical consequences of a hunger strike will differ according to how seriously the strike is taken.

Medical contraindications to a hunger strike, such as metabolic diseases diabetes, etc. and others, will be particularly relevant here. If a hunger striker perforates an ulcer after only a week, the whole purpose of the strike - in addition to his health - will be jeopardized to no avail.

Whether hunger strikers abandon the fast or not, they have a right to know about all the implications for their health, including the physiological effects of fasting. The importance of doctors being aware of these effects has recently been stressed in two British Medical Journal articles Kalk et al , Peel Hunger strikes may be against the rules in certain prison systems, just as they may be tolerated in others.

Whatever the situation, doctors will invariably be involved one way or another, and it is therefore essential that they are familiar with the relevant issues. It is directly related to the issue referred to earlier, of a hunger strike being tantamount to suicide.

Hunger strikers are often criticized for using their physical welfare as an instrument of protest, the debatable argument being that this constitutes a form of blackmail.

It is inappropriate to assert, however, that hunger strikers should be placed in the same category as persons intending to commit suicide. This is certainly a misconception. Someone who attempts suicide is either appealing for help, as in the majority of cases, or he truly wants to end his life.

The clear-cut case of a politically motivated hunger striker is different. If necessary, he is willing to sacrifice his life for his cause, but the aim is certainly not suicide.

Soldiers charging a heavily defended enemy position also run the risk of dying. Are the suicidal too? This naturally gives any prison or judicial authority the perfect excuse for ordering doctors to intervene forcibly.

For physicians working with prisoners, the World Medical Association has drawn up codes of ethics which give specific guidance on the issue of force-feeding. ICRC experience of hunger strikes. Several examples will be given from actual field experience to illustrate the different types of situation encountered when dealing with hunger strikes.

No further comment will be made on the latter, however, as they do not have the same implications as hunger strikes for medical action and ethics.

How serious these strikes actually were depended on various factors. In these, some prisoners skipped breakfast, some lunch and other dinner, with all of them saying they were on hunger strike. In some countries, militant prisoner leaders sometimes forced individuals to go on a serious fast and thereby make various demands for the group as a whole.

In many cases, they wanted to know more about what they were getting themselves into, and requested information about the effects of hunger strikes. ln these situations prisoners were usually wary of any advice given by the prison doctor himself. This mistrust was not always unfounded.

One typical prison doctor made it known early on to hunger-striking prisoners that, because of his profound religious principles, he would not tolerate any prisoner starving himself to death, and would not hesitate to order them to be force-fed at an early stage in a country of Latin America in the late eighties.

This doctor was deeply convinced that any serious hunger strike was tantamount to suicide, and so there was no question of respecting the autonomy of such a patient.

In many of these hunger strikes prisoners decided to abandon their fast, after receiving medical advice on their specific conditions. Others discreetly requested medical assistance, for example in the form of a transfer to the sick-bay, where they could resume nourishment without losing face, since an intervention of this sort from an outside doctor was viewed as acceptable.

Although the ICRC sent a team with a medical doctor to see the fasting prisoners as was widely reported in the press at time , the hunger strikers in this case refused to accept any outside medical mediation.

As soon became clear, the hunger strikes in Ulster were deadly serious, with a total of ten prisoners dying over several months. The prison doctors respected the expressed will of the hunger strikers, and force-feeding was not envisaged at any time. In a few cases, it was the families of prisoners who asked doctors to intervene at an advanced stage to save their sons'lives, a request that was complied with.

This sometimes led to bitter arguments, with some hunger strikers telling their families they would never forgive them if they broke the strike by asking for medical assistance on their behalf. Most families, in fact, supported their sons or husbands on the strike.

Some of these strikes have not been very determined at all, despite claims to the contrary. The attitude of certain doctors to these collective strikes has sometimes been just as politicized as that of the striking prisoners.

This type of intervention, particularly after a mere 10 to 12 days of fasting, has to be seen as coercive and not medical. Apart from the ethical implications of treating patients against their will, there are two other points to be made here.

First, there is no medical reason to force-feed a physically and mentally healthy person who has been fasting for only 10 - 12 days. Second, the act of feeding through a forcibly introduced naso-gastric tube can be dangerous in itself, as was demonstrated by two deaths in the region in the early s.

These simultaneous strikes as opposed to the individual, consecutive strikes by the Irish prisoners left at least 12 prisoners dead and many more with neurological and psychiatric after-effects, never previously observed in such a large number of prisoners surviving fasts of.

over 60 days. Zaki Gul, in Toplum ve Hekim, Eylül-Aralik Since the ICRC has never been allowed to visit Turkish prisoners, its doctors were not involved in these cases, and much of the medical information on the strikes is still to be made available.

When telling the author about his experience, he first protested vehemently at not having his wishes respected by the prison doctor. After making his point, however, he quietly admitted that he was, in fact, happy to be alive. Force-feeding and the link with torture.

The issue of force-feeding constitutes the link with situations of coercion and torture. As is well known, the World Medical Association WMA Declaration of Tokyo of prohibits any participation in torture, whether actively, passively or through use of medical knowledge, by a medical doctor.

Article 5 of the Tokyo Declaration also stipulates that prisoners on hunger strikes shall not be force-fed, though few doctors know exactly why this clause is included. One common interpretation is that force-feeding is viewed as a form of torture, which indeed it may be on occasion.

The case of the Moroccan hunger strikers, described in a report by ICHP Voguet and Raat , who were repeatedly force-fed over months or even years of continuing hunger strike, lends strong support to this argument. The real reason for Article 5 is, however, different personal communication by Dr.

André Wynen, former and Honorary Secretary-General and founding member of the WMA. The ban on force-feeding relates to the background to the declaration, i.

situations of torture. This was the key issue behind the inclusion of Article 5 relating to hunger strikes. A case involving the application of Article 5 which occurred in South Africa in attracted widespread comment.

In Johannesburg Kalk and Veriava treated 33 prisone rs who had gone on hunger strike to protest against their conditions of detention.

Once the prisoners were in hospital, they were duly informed of Article 5 of the Tokyo Declaration and told that there would be no force-feeding.

Moreover, Dr Kalk considered that their detention without trial constituted a form of torture, and refused to discharge the patients back into detention after they had recovered from the effects of the hunger strike. It was also doctors from the South African Medical Association MASA who initiated a WMA review of ethical guidelines on hunger strikes, and contacted the author on the subject in After much debate, in which the ICRC was officially involved, with the author of this paper actively lobbying and working on the issue, the WMA decided to draw up a new statement, the WMA Declaration of Malta on hunger strikes.

This refers to prisoners and voluntary total fasting outside any situation of torture see: WMA Handbook of Declarations, WMA Ferney-Voltaire, France.

Hungfr Hunger Strikes at UCLA hubger central HHunger the establishment of Hunger and migration UCLA César E. Retrenchment in budgets and changes in economic policy Hungee the strime Hunger and hunger strike during the s and early s led to California's state and local governments reducing hungwr, Hunger and hunger strike the inter-departmental program was at risk of being shut down. Due to the activism of students, the program not only avoided being closed, but succeeded in establishing a new department. In the spring of students and faculty organized demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience and a hunger strike to demand support for the program and the establishment of the department. The students faced strong resistance from the UC Regents and then Chancellor Charles E. Young, with charges filed against 83 students following a protest on May