Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of
In cases where an entity (usually the state) has or is able to obtain custody of the hunger striker (such as a prisoner), the hunger strike is often terminated by the custodial entity through the use of force-feeding.[4]
Early history
Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, where it was known as Troscadh or Cealachan.[5] Detailed in the contemporary civic codes, it had specific rules by which it could be used, and the fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender.[6] Scholars speculate that this was due to the high importance the culture placed on hospitality. Allowing a person to die at one's doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonor.[7] Others say that the practice was to fast for one whole night, as there is no evidence of people fasting to death in pre-Christian Ireland. The fasts were primarily undertaken to recover debts or get justice for a perceived wrong. Legends of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, have used the hunger strike as well.[8]
In India, the practice of a hunger protest, where the protester fasts at the door of an offending party (typically a debtor) in a public call for justice, was abolished by the government in 1861; this indicates the prevalence of the practice prior to that date, or at least a public awareness of it.[8]
Medical view
In the first three days, the body still uses energy from
Death usually occurs when a hunger striker has lost about 40–50% of their pre-strike weight at about 60–70 days in.[12] Obese individuals can last longer.[13]
Examples
The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (January 2024) |
British and American suffragettes
In the early 20th century
In 1913 the
Like their British counterparts, American suffragettes also used this method of political protest. A few years before the passage of the
Ireland
Hunger strikes have deep roots in Irish society and in the Irish psyche. Fasting in order to bring attention to an injustice which one felt under his lord, and thus shame him, was a common feature of
The tactic was used by
During the early 1920s, the vessel
Irish hunger strikes between 1923 and 1976
In February 1923, 23 women (members of Cumann na mBan) went on hunger strike for 34 days over the arrest and imprisonment without trial of Irish republican prisoners. The Free State subsequently released the women republican prisoners. Most of the male republicans were not released until the following year.
Under
The tactic was revived by the
Irish hunger strike of 1981
In 1980, seven Irish Republican prisoners, six from the IRA and one from the
Gandhi and Bhagat Singh
Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned in 1908, 1909, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1930, 1932, 1933, and 1942.[32] Because of Gandhi's stature around the world, British authorities were loath to allow him to die in their custody; Gandhi engaged in several famous hunger strikes to protest British rule in India.
In addition to Gandhi, various others used the hunger strike option during the Indian independence movement, including
Potti Sriramulu
Following Indian independence, in 1952 Indian revolutionary
He is revered as Amarajeevi (Immortal being) in Coastal Andra for his role in achieving the linguistic re-organisation of states. As a devout follower of
Cuban dissidents
On April 3, 1972, Pedro Luis Boitel, an imprisoned poet and dissident, declared himself on hunger strike. After 53 days on hunger strike, receiving only liquids, he died of starvation on May 25, 1972. His last days were related by his close friend, poet Armando Valladares. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cólon Cemetery in Havana. [citation needed]
Guillermo Fariñas did a seven-month hunger strike to protest against the extensive Internet censorship in Cuba. He ended it in Autumn 2006, with severe health problems although still conscious.[35] Reporters Without Borders awarded its cyber-freedom prize to Guillermo Fariñas in 2006.[36]
Jorge Luis García Pérez (known as Antúnez) has done hunger strikes. In 2009, following the end of his 17-year imprisonment, Antúnez, his wife Iris, and Diosiris Santana Pérez started a hunger strike to support other political prisoners. Leaders from Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina declared their support for Antúnez.[37][38]
On February 23, 2010, Orlando Zapata, a dissident arrested in 2003 as part of a crackdown on opposition groups, died in a hospital while undertaking a hunger strike that had been ongoing for 85 days. His hunger strike was a protest against poor prison conditions. Amnesty International had declared him a prisoner of conscience.[39]
Legal situation
Article 8 of the 1975 World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo states that doctors are not allowed to force-feed hunger strikers. They are supposed to understand the prisoner's independent wishes, and it is recommended to have a second opinion as to the capability of the prisoner to understand the implication of their decision and be capable of informed consent.
- Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgement concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, they shall not be fed artificially. The decision as to the capacity of the prisoner to form such a judgement should be confirmed by at least one other independent physician. The consequences of the refusal of nourishment shall be explained by the physician to the prisoner.[40]
The World Medical Association (WMA) recently revised and updated its Declaration of Malta on Hunger Strikers.[41] Among many changes, it unambiguously states that force feeding is a form of inhumane and degrading treatment in its Article 21.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a member of the WMA, but the AMA's members are not bound by the WMA's decisions, as neither organization has formal legal powers. The AMA has formally endorsed the WMA Declaration of Tokyo and has written several letters to the US government and made public statements in opposition to US physician involvement in force feeding of hunger strikers in contravention of medical ethics.[42] The United States Code of Federal Regulations rule on hunger strikes by prisoners states, "It is the responsibility of the Bureau of Prisons to monitor the health and welfare of individual inmates, and to ensure that procedures are pursued to preserve life." It further provides that when "a medical necessity for immediate treatment of a life or health threatening situation exists, the physician may order that treatment be administered without the consent of the inmate."[43]
See also
References
- from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ "Hunger strike definition and meaning". www.collinsdictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ^ Foltynova, Kristyna. "Anatomy Of A Hunger Strike: Why Is It Done And What Does It Do To The Human Body?". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ Ellis, Peter Bereford. The Druids (Eerdmans, 1998). pp. 141–142.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 490.
- ^ Joyce, Patrick Weston, A Smaller Social History of ancient Ireland (Longman, Green & Co, 1906), Chapter IV: The Administration of Justice, p.86. Found online at https://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/I-IV-6.php Archived February 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87113-702-9.[page needed]
- ^ ISBN 978-1593771928.
- ^ Miller, Ian (2018). Medical History. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- ^ Psychiatry in Prisons A Comprehensive Handbook. Jessica Kingsley. 2018. p. 156.
- ^ Stevenson, R. J., & Prescott, J. (2014). Human diet and cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 5(4), 463–475.
- ^ Johnstone A. Fasting the ultimate diet. Obes Rev 2007, 8:211–222.
- ISBN 978-1843102236.
- OCLC 1016848621.
- ^ Pedersen, Sarah. "The Aberdeen Women's Suffrage Campaign". suffrageaberdeen.co.uk. copyright WildFireOne. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- D.A. Binchy, "A Pre-Christian Survival in Mediaeval Irish Hagiography", in Ireland in Early Mediaeval Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 168–178
- ^ Rudolf Thurneysen, "Das Fasten beim Pfändungsverfahren", Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 15 (1924–25) 260–275.
- ^ "END HUNGER STRIKE OF CORK PRISONERS; Sinn Féin Leader Absolves Them and They Take Food After 94 Days' Fast. AMBUSH FIVE JOURNALISTS Soldiers Kill Two and Capture Seven of the Attackers—Mrs. MacSwiney Coming Here" (PDF). The New York Times. November 13, 1920. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ Guinness Book of Records 1988, p. 21
- ISBN 978-0-7165-2683-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7171-3741-1.
- ^ McCarthy, Pat, (2015), The Irish Revolution, 1912–1923, Four Courts Press, Dublin, p.132, ISBN 978-1-84682-410-4
- ^ The Forgotten Hunger Strikes". hungerstrikes.org.
- ^ "Army Pensions Act, 1932, Section 5(2)". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
the word "killed" includes ... death as an immediate result of refusing to take nourishment while detained in prison
- ISBN 978-0253347084.
- ISBN 978-0-7165-3142-5.
- ISBN 9781785370939.
- ISBN 978-0-09-984520-1.
- ISBN 0-7475-3818-2.
- ^ "The Starry Plough on 1981 Irish hunger strikes" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2006.
- ^ "Years of Arrests & Imprisonments of Mahatma Gandhi | Chronology of Mahatma Gandhi". www.mkgandhi.org. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "Bhagat Singh: Latest News, Videos and Photos of Bhagat Singh | Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ "Guillermo Fariñas ends seven-month-old hunger strike for Internet access". Reporters Without Borders. January 20, 2016. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ "Cyber-freedom prize for 2006 awarded to Guillermo Fariñas of Cuba". Reporters Without Borders. January 20, 2016. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ "Additional Latin American Leaders Join in Solidarity with Antúnez". Archived from the original on October 27, 2012.
- ^ "Young Uruguayans Support Antúnez, Cuban Political Prisoners". Archived from the original on October 27, 2012.
- ^ "Cuban prison hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo dies". BBC News. February 24, 2010. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
- ^ "WMA – the World Medical Association – WMA DECLARATION OF TOKYO – GUIDELINES FOR PHYSICIANS CONCERNING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT IN RELATION TO DETENTION AND IMPRISONMENT". Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
- ^ "WMA – the World Medical Association-WMA Declaration of Malta on Hunger Strikers". Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^ "American Medical Association Opposes Force-Feeding Prisoners On Hunger Strike At Gitmo". ThinkProgress. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ^ "Title 28: Judicial Administration". Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
External links
- "Hunger Strikes, Force-feeding, and Physicians' Responsibilities"
- Fasting as a Method To Demand International Protection For the People of Darfur, Sudan
- Bibliography on hunger strikes and force-feeding in the IFHHRO Right to Health Wiki
- "The long history of the Irish hunger strike: New exhibition in Kilmainham Gaol tells the story from Thomas Ashe to Bobby Sands" Irish Times 2017-09-21