Physicians for Human Rights-Israel Regarding Ministers’ Statements and Medical Ethics during Hunger Strike
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls upon Tsahi Hanegbi, Dani Naveh and Yaakov Ganot to retract their statements regarding the prisoners on hunger strike, to observe medical ethics and international conventions while treating the prisoners’ strike and to seriously regard their demands.
In a letter today to the Minister of Interior Security Hanegbi, Minister of Health Dani Naveh and Israeli Prison Services Commissioner Ganot, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that:
· The prisoners’ hunger strike is their last option, which follows previous failed attempts by the prisoners to improve their difficult prison conditions and to receive their rights as defined in international law and conventions.
· The task of the Interior Security Minister is to ensure the bodily and mental integrity of all the prisons without relating to the crime they committed and for which they are in prison.
· Minister Naveh, who stands at the head of all the medical professionals in Israel, must, in this case, represent the interests of the doctors and medical ethics, even if this does not go hand-in-hand with his political views.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on all of the medical professionals in the IPS and the various hospitals to supply medical assistance to every person in need, as they have done until now, even if Minister Naveh thinks differently. His instructions are completely illegal under any circumstance.
· Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the IMA expressed a strict objection to shackling patients during treatment. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on the medical staff at the hospitals to carefully consider the shackling of patients and to strongly object to any automatic shackling of prisoners as the IPS does.
· Physicians for Human Rights-Israel attached to the letter an appendix entitled “Rules for the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike by a doctor”, as summarized by the association based on guidelines of international medical groups. These rules emphasize the importance of the relationship between the attending doctor and the prisoners partaking in the strike to observe and prevent the application of pressure on the prisoner to partake, on to not partake, in the strike. The rules explain the ethical dilemmas that a doctor might face (such as the question of force-feeding); in addition, the different types of hunger strikes are explained. The rules include technical information on how to treat those on hunger strike.
· Physicians for Human Rights-Israel sent a letter on 19 August to the IPS Commissioner which included a proposal to offer independent medical professionals who are members of the association who would visit the prisoners in the various prisons who are on strike.
The letter follows.
For additional details:
Anat Litvin, Director: Prisoners and Detainees Project, +972-54-7322007
Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach, +972-54-4860630
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel http://www.phr.org.il
The Letter
22 August 2004
To:
Tsahi Hanegbi, Minister of Interior Security
Dani Naveh, Minister of Health
Yaakov Ganot, IPS Commissioner
Re: The Security Prisoners’ Hunger Strike
I turn to you in the name of Physicians for Human Rights Israel demanding that the “security prisoners” who began a hunger strike on 15 August 2004 and those who have joined them since, be offered the proper medical care as defined in international law and conventions. Also, I ask that the Ministers Naveh and Hanegbi reconsider their statements regarding this issue.
The hunger strike of the security prisoners in the various prisons is the last option for this population after the prisoners’ attempts, via lawyers, human rights groups and members of Knesset, to receive proper prison conditions and their basic human rights as defined by international law and conventions, failed. For example: the prisoners must undergo a search while they are naked every time they leave their section, including when they are going to visit the prison doctor or their lawyer; during the search they are told to perform degrading and embarrassing acts; some prisoners have had their visitation rights denied, and thus have not been visit by their families for years; due to the glass dividers set up in the rooms designated for the family visits of security prisoners, physical contact between small children and their fathers is denied, as opposed to what every other prisoner in Israel is entitled to; chronically ill patients do not receive proper follow up care, and every exit from a prison, whether for laboratory tests, imaging, or visits to specialists outside of the prison, entails a long wait which can cause irreversible damage to the prisoner’s health.
It is superfluous to mention that jailing the Palestinian prisoners outside of the occupied Palestinian territories is unto itself a violation of International Law, in addition to the difficult conditions the prisoners are subjected to.
Minister of Interior Security Tsahi Hanegbi’s statements in the Israeli press that “in the IPS [Israeli Prison Services] prisons 4000 terrorists are jailed, most of them with blood on their hands…” and that as far as he is concerned the security prisoners “can strike for one day, a month or even hunger-strike until they die” are distressing. The Minister of Interior Security is expected to care for the bodily and mental integrity of all the prisons without relating to the crime they committed and for which they are in prison. Since the death penalty is not applied in the State of Israel, the public comment made by the Minister of Internal Security, Tsachi Hanegbi is difficult to understand.
The IPS requested from the Ministry of Health and the hospitals to be prepared to receive prisoners whose medical status has deteriorated as a result of the hunger strike. In response, the Minister of Health Dani Naveh instructed the security section of the Ministry of Health not to respect the IPS’s request and said that he would not agree to the hospitalization of a multitude of murders in the hospitals, since this would endanger the staff and patients. The Minister of Health is entrusted with the responsibility for the systems that supply health services to the citizens of Israel and those who are held by the state. The security prisoners without a doubt fall into the second category. All prisoners held by the IPS are entitled to a basic plan of medical services as supplied by the Israeli Clalit Kupat Holim (Sick Fund/HMO) to those it insures, including hospitalization if needed. Medical professionals who were to prevent medical assistance from a person in need would be violating medical ethics and the law. Minister Naveh, who stands at the head of all the medical professionals in Israel, must, in this case, represent the interests of the doctors and medical ethics, even if this does not go hand-in-hand with his political views.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on all of the medical professionals in the IPS and the various hospitals to supply medical assistance to every person in need, as they have done until now, even if Minister Naveh thinks differently. His instructions are completely illegal under any circumstance.
The IPS Commissioner’s statements regarding their intention shackle prisoners who arrive at the hospital throughout the hospitalization, and even during medical treatment, is particularly severe and violates medical ethics and the instructions of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) in regards to shackling patients. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the IMA expressed a strict objection to shackling patients during treatment. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on the medical staff at the hospitals to carefully consider the shackling of patients and to strongly object to any automatic shackling of prisoners as the IPS does. We call on the IMA to condemn the statements of the IPS Commissioner, the Minister of Interior security and the Minister of Health, and to instruct the medical staff in prisons and hospital to act according to the rules of medical ethics.
We call upon the Minister of Interior Security and Minister of Health to retract their statements, to treat the prisoners’ demands seriously, and to treat the prisoners on strike in accordance with the rules of ethics.
We call on all the medical staff who treat the prisoners partaking in the hunger strike to act according to the guidelines of the World Medical Association (WMA) and the rules of ethics as established by international organizations.
Enclosed within is an appendix entitled “Rules for the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike by a doctor”. We hope that this appendix will be a useful tool in the attempt to preserve medical ethics during a hunger strike.
Respectfully,
Hadas Ziv
Executive Director
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
CC:
Physicians for Human Rights (USA)
Physicians for Human Rights (UK)
Physicians for Human Rights (Denmark)
Johannes Wier Foundation for Health and Human Rights (Netherlands)
Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights
Center for Enquiry Into Health and Allied Themes (India)
Health and Human Rights Foundation (Bangladesh)
[The above organizations are affiliates of The International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO)]
Amnesty International
British Medical Association
International Committee of the Red Cross
International Council of Nurses
Turkish Medical Association
World Medical Association
[The above organizations are observers of The International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO)]
Elizabeth Solomon- IFHHRO
Human Rights Watch
Kofi Annan- Secretary General, United Nations
Israeli Medical Association
Appendix 1
“Rules for the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike by a doctor”
As it has already been stated in this letter, the hunger strike is the prisoners’ last option, and the medical staff in the prisons must treat with respect the prisoners’ desires not to eat. The medical staff in the prison acts as a neutral factor that can help achieve compromises between the prison authorities and the striking prisoners. In accordance with the physicians’ oath and the rules of medical ethics, the well-being of the patient- in this case the prisoner- must always be a priority for the attending physician. S/he must do whatever possible to act from a neutral standpoint and not to be influenced by pressure applied by the penal system on the medical staff in situations like these.
It is important to know that there are several types of hunger-strikes:
· A dry hunger strike- the striker refuses to intake any form of food or liquid, including water.
· A complete hunger strike- the striker refuses to intake anything but water with salt.
· A partial hunger strike/food refusal- the striker refuses to intake solid food but can choose to accept sweetened liquids, milk, honey and the like.
There is an inclination to express disdain at the partial hunger strikers, under the claim that they are not serious and are not willing to make a real sacrifice and thus are not really striking. One must remember that a prolonged partial hunger strike can lead to death and is not to be taken lightly. People must be able to choose to partake in a partial hunger strike and they must not be prevented from receiving the types of liquids they request.
The prison doctors must conduct daily examinations of the prisoners on strike in order to chart any changes in their medical state. The doctors must ensure that the prisoners who request salt and sugared liquids are provided with them, in order to prevent a deterioration in their medical condition.
The doctor must present the striking prisoners with information regarding the affects of the strike on their health, in a clear and understandable manner. The doctor must have consistent contact with all the prisoners during the strike, and, if possible, conduct interviews with each one in conditions that allow for privacy. The doctor must be capable of answering any questions regarding health that the prisoners might ask during the strike.
The doctor must build a trusting relationship between himself and the prisoner, and to take into consideration the prisoners request to receive, or not to receive food. The WMA emphasizes that the trust between a doctor and prisoner is especially important in cases during which the prisoner is exposed to pressure from other strikers to join the strike. In the event that trust exists the prisoner can relate to the doctor, in private, his unwillingness to participate in the strike and the pressure being applied, and the doctor, in turn, can help distance the prisoner from those applying the pressure (generally by evacuation to a hospital).
The consistent contact with the prisoners on strike is important also at a later stage, after the prisoner has lost full consciousness and the doctor must decide whether or not to force-feed or deliver food via an IV tube. According to the instructions of the WMA, force-feeding must be avoided as long as the fully conscious striker expresses a clear wish not to receive food. After the striker has lost full awareness, the decision whether to force feed must be that of the doctor and should be based on the striker’s wishes which were expressed while he was fully coherent and that which can be understood from the connection between the doctor and striker prior to the latter losing consciousness.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel http://www.phr.org.il
Photo courtesy of The Palestine Monitor http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Please also see:
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel Offers Independent Medical Assistance for Palestinian Hunger Strikers
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=1879&blz=1
UPDATES
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: Also IPS Doctors are placing pressure on prisoners to end strike by disseminating misleading medical information
A letter that arrived at Physicians for Human Rights-Israel’s offices, via the “Palestinian Prisoners’ Society”, includes a written appeal in Arabic by the IPS (Israeli Prison Services) to the “security prisoners”, that explains in detail the health problems that can arise as a result of a hunger strike. The letter includes misleading medical information, in order to break the prisoners’ will and cause them to end the strike. Similarly, in the letter the prisoners are threatened that they will be force-fed against their will, even though this is against medical ethics.
Amongst other things, the IPS says in the letter:
Refusal to eat, even for a very short period, can cause problems to the body’s various systems.
As a result of the strike, there is a great risk of developing infectious diseases.
A hunger strike, even for a very short can lead to sexual dysfunction that can be irreversible.
All of these claims are not true and have no basis in medical research or in other cases of hunger strikes around the world.
It is clear that the IPS is doing all it can force them to end the strike. The IPS is misusing its power and using the fact that the prisoners partaking in the strike are isolated and cannot dismiss or check the information they receive through another source. Particularly disturbing is the fact that the letter is signed by the medical section of the IPS, meaning that the IPS doctors, who are treating the prisoners, are allowing for medical information that has no basis in reality to be given over to the people they are medically responsible for. This behavior is in defiance of medical ethics and the physicians’ oath that demands that the doctor’s first and foremost responsibility is to his/her patients.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel again reminds that one of the most important factors in caring for the well-being of the strikers and bringing the strike to an end without prisoners or guards being harmed is a relationship based on mutual trust between the doctor and the strikers. Clearly, the support the IPS doctors give to the scare tactics being used by the IPS prevent building such a relationship.
Even though the chances of receiving clearance are not high, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel again offers independent doctors to the IPS to treat the prisoners partaking in the strike, as recommended by international organization in the event of a hunger strike.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel http://www.phr.org.il
Bureau of Palestinian rights committee issues statement concerning
hunger strike in Israeli detention facilities
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/gapal964.doc.htm
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls upon Tsahi Hanegbi, Dani Naveh and Yaakov Ganot to retract their statements regarding the prisoners on hunger strike, to observe medical ethics and international conventions while treating the prisoners’ strike and to seriously regard their demands.
In a letter today to the Minister of Interior Security Hanegbi, Minister of Health Dani Naveh and Israeli Prison Services Commissioner Ganot, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that:
· The prisoners’ hunger strike is their last option, which follows previous failed attempts by the prisoners to improve their difficult prison conditions and to receive their rights as defined in international law and conventions.
· The task of the Interior Security Minister is to ensure the bodily and mental integrity of all the prisons without relating to the crime they committed and for which they are in prison.
· Minister Naveh, who stands at the head of all the medical professionals in Israel, must, in this case, represent the interests of the doctors and medical ethics, even if this does not go hand-in-hand with his political views.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on all of the medical professionals in the IPS and the various hospitals to supply medical assistance to every person in need, as they have done until now, even if Minister Naveh thinks differently. His instructions are completely illegal under any circumstance.
· Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the IMA expressed a strict objection to shackling patients during treatment. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on the medical staff at the hospitals to carefully consider the shackling of patients and to strongly object to any automatic shackling of prisoners as the IPS does.
· Physicians for Human Rights-Israel attached to the letter an appendix entitled “Rules for the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike by a doctor”, as summarized by the association based on guidelines of international medical groups. These rules emphasize the importance of the relationship between the attending doctor and the prisoners partaking in the strike to observe and prevent the application of pressure on the prisoner to partake, on to not partake, in the strike. The rules explain the ethical dilemmas that a doctor might face (such as the question of force-feeding); in addition, the different types of hunger strikes are explained. The rules include technical information on how to treat those on hunger strike.
· Physicians for Human Rights-Israel sent a letter on 19 August to the IPS Commissioner which included a proposal to offer independent medical professionals who are members of the association who would visit the prisoners in the various prisons who are on strike.
The letter follows.
For additional details:
Anat Litvin, Director: Prisoners and Detainees Project, +972-54-7322007
Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach, +972-54-4860630
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel http://www.phr.org.il
The Letter
22 August 2004
To:
Tsahi Hanegbi, Minister of Interior Security
Dani Naveh, Minister of Health
Yaakov Ganot, IPS Commissioner
Re: The Security Prisoners’ Hunger Strike
I turn to you in the name of Physicians for Human Rights Israel demanding that the “security prisoners” who began a hunger strike on 15 August 2004 and those who have joined them since, be offered the proper medical care as defined in international law and conventions. Also, I ask that the Ministers Naveh and Hanegbi reconsider their statements regarding this issue.
The hunger strike of the security prisoners in the various prisons is the last option for this population after the prisoners’ attempts, via lawyers, human rights groups and members of Knesset, to receive proper prison conditions and their basic human rights as defined by international law and conventions, failed. For example: the prisoners must undergo a search while they are naked every time they leave their section, including when they are going to visit the prison doctor or their lawyer; during the search they are told to perform degrading and embarrassing acts; some prisoners have had their visitation rights denied, and thus have not been visit by their families for years; due to the glass dividers set up in the rooms designated for the family visits of security prisoners, physical contact between small children and their fathers is denied, as opposed to what every other prisoner in Israel is entitled to; chronically ill patients do not receive proper follow up care, and every exit from a prison, whether for laboratory tests, imaging, or visits to specialists outside of the prison, entails a long wait which can cause irreversible damage to the prisoner’s health.
It is superfluous to mention that jailing the Palestinian prisoners outside of the occupied Palestinian territories is unto itself a violation of International Law, in addition to the difficult conditions the prisoners are subjected to.
Minister of Interior Security Tsahi Hanegbi’s statements in the Israeli press that “in the IPS [Israeli Prison Services] prisons 4000 terrorists are jailed, most of them with blood on their hands…” and that as far as he is concerned the security prisoners “can strike for one day, a month or even hunger-strike until they die” are distressing. The Minister of Interior Security is expected to care for the bodily and mental integrity of all the prisons without relating to the crime they committed and for which they are in prison. Since the death penalty is not applied in the State of Israel, the public comment made by the Minister of Internal Security, Tsachi Hanegbi is difficult to understand.
The IPS requested from the Ministry of Health and the hospitals to be prepared to receive prisoners whose medical status has deteriorated as a result of the hunger strike. In response, the Minister of Health Dani Naveh instructed the security section of the Ministry of Health not to respect the IPS’s request and said that he would not agree to the hospitalization of a multitude of murders in the hospitals, since this would endanger the staff and patients. The Minister of Health is entrusted with the responsibility for the systems that supply health services to the citizens of Israel and those who are held by the state. The security prisoners without a doubt fall into the second category. All prisoners held by the IPS are entitled to a basic plan of medical services as supplied by the Israeli Clalit Kupat Holim (Sick Fund/HMO) to those it insures, including hospitalization if needed. Medical professionals who were to prevent medical assistance from a person in need would be violating medical ethics and the law. Minister Naveh, who stands at the head of all the medical professionals in Israel, must, in this case, represent the interests of the doctors and medical ethics, even if this does not go hand-in-hand with his political views.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on all of the medical professionals in the IPS and the various hospitals to supply medical assistance to every person in need, as they have done until now, even if Minister Naveh thinks differently. His instructions are completely illegal under any circumstance.
The IPS Commissioner’s statements regarding their intention shackle prisoners who arrive at the hospital throughout the hospitalization, and even during medical treatment, is particularly severe and violates medical ethics and the instructions of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) in regards to shackling patients. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the IMA expressed a strict objection to shackling patients during treatment. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls on the medical staff at the hospitals to carefully consider the shackling of patients and to strongly object to any automatic shackling of prisoners as the IPS does. We call on the IMA to condemn the statements of the IPS Commissioner, the Minister of Interior security and the Minister of Health, and to instruct the medical staff in prisons and hospital to act according to the rules of medical ethics.
We call upon the Minister of Interior Security and Minister of Health to retract their statements, to treat the prisoners’ demands seriously, and to treat the prisoners on strike in accordance with the rules of ethics.
We call on all the medical staff who treat the prisoners partaking in the hunger strike to act according to the guidelines of the World Medical Association (WMA) and the rules of ethics as established by international organizations.
Enclosed within is an appendix entitled “Rules for the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike by a doctor”. We hope that this appendix will be a useful tool in the attempt to preserve medical ethics during a hunger strike.
Respectfully,
Hadas Ziv
Executive Director
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
CC:
Physicians for Human Rights (USA)
Physicians for Human Rights (UK)
Physicians for Human Rights (Denmark)
Johannes Wier Foundation for Health and Human Rights (Netherlands)
Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights
Center for Enquiry Into Health and Allied Themes (India)
Health and Human Rights Foundation (Bangladesh)
[The above organizations are affiliates of The International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO)]
Amnesty International
British Medical Association
International Committee of the Red Cross
International Council of Nurses
Turkish Medical Association
World Medical Association
[The above organizations are observers of The International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO)]
Elizabeth Solomon- IFHHRO
Human Rights Watch
Kofi Annan- Secretary General, United Nations
Israeli Medical Association
Appendix 1
“Rules for the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike by a doctor”
As it has already been stated in this letter, the hunger strike is the prisoners’ last option, and the medical staff in the prisons must treat with respect the prisoners’ desires not to eat. The medical staff in the prison acts as a neutral factor that can help achieve compromises between the prison authorities and the striking prisoners. In accordance with the physicians’ oath and the rules of medical ethics, the well-being of the patient- in this case the prisoner- must always be a priority for the attending physician. S/he must do whatever possible to act from a neutral standpoint and not to be influenced by pressure applied by the penal system on the medical staff in situations like these.
It is important to know that there are several types of hunger-strikes:
· A dry hunger strike- the striker refuses to intake any form of food or liquid, including water.
· A complete hunger strike- the striker refuses to intake anything but water with salt.
· A partial hunger strike/food refusal- the striker refuses to intake solid food but can choose to accept sweetened liquids, milk, honey and the like.
There is an inclination to express disdain at the partial hunger strikers, under the claim that they are not serious and are not willing to make a real sacrifice and thus are not really striking. One must remember that a prolonged partial hunger strike can lead to death and is not to be taken lightly. People must be able to choose to partake in a partial hunger strike and they must not be prevented from receiving the types of liquids they request.
The prison doctors must conduct daily examinations of the prisoners on strike in order to chart any changes in their medical state. The doctors must ensure that the prisoners who request salt and sugared liquids are provided with them, in order to prevent a deterioration in their medical condition.
The doctor must present the striking prisoners with information regarding the affects of the strike on their health, in a clear and understandable manner. The doctor must have consistent contact with all the prisoners during the strike, and, if possible, conduct interviews with each one in conditions that allow for privacy. The doctor must be capable of answering any questions regarding health that the prisoners might ask during the strike.
The doctor must build a trusting relationship between himself and the prisoner, and to take into consideration the prisoners request to receive, or not to receive food. The WMA emphasizes that the trust between a doctor and prisoner is especially important in cases during which the prisoner is exposed to pressure from other strikers to join the strike. In the event that trust exists the prisoner can relate to the doctor, in private, his unwillingness to participate in the strike and the pressure being applied, and the doctor, in turn, can help distance the prisoner from those applying the pressure (generally by evacuation to a hospital).
The consistent contact with the prisoners on strike is important also at a later stage, after the prisoner has lost full consciousness and the doctor must decide whether or not to force-feed or deliver food via an IV tube. According to the instructions of the WMA, force-feeding must be avoided as long as the fully conscious striker expresses a clear wish not to receive food. After the striker has lost full awareness, the decision whether to force feed must be that of the doctor and should be based on the striker’s wishes which were expressed while he was fully coherent and that which can be understood from the connection between the doctor and striker prior to the latter losing consciousness.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel http://www.phr.org.il
Photo courtesy of The Palestine Monitor http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Please also see:
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel Offers Independent Medical Assistance for Palestinian Hunger Strikers
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=1879&blz=1
UPDATES
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: Also IPS Doctors are placing pressure on prisoners to end strike by disseminating misleading medical information
A letter that arrived at Physicians for Human Rights-Israel’s offices, via the “Palestinian Prisoners’ Society”, includes a written appeal in Arabic by the IPS (Israeli Prison Services) to the “security prisoners”, that explains in detail the health problems that can arise as a result of a hunger strike. The letter includes misleading medical information, in order to break the prisoners’ will and cause them to end the strike. Similarly, in the letter the prisoners are threatened that they will be force-fed against their will, even though this is against medical ethics.
Amongst other things, the IPS says in the letter:
Refusal to eat, even for a very short period, can cause problems to the body’s various systems.
As a result of the strike, there is a great risk of developing infectious diseases.
A hunger strike, even for a very short can lead to sexual dysfunction that can be irreversible.
All of these claims are not true and have no basis in medical research or in other cases of hunger strikes around the world.
It is clear that the IPS is doing all it can force them to end the strike. The IPS is misusing its power and using the fact that the prisoners partaking in the strike are isolated and cannot dismiss or check the information they receive through another source. Particularly disturbing is the fact that the letter is signed by the medical section of the IPS, meaning that the IPS doctors, who are treating the prisoners, are allowing for medical information that has no basis in reality to be given over to the people they are medically responsible for. This behavior is in defiance of medical ethics and the physicians’ oath that demands that the doctor’s first and foremost responsibility is to his/her patients.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel again reminds that one of the most important factors in caring for the well-being of the strikers and bringing the strike to an end without prisoners or guards being harmed is a relationship based on mutual trust between the doctor and the strikers. Clearly, the support the IPS doctors give to the scare tactics being used by the IPS prevent building such a relationship.
Even though the chances of receiving clearance are not high, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel again offers independent doctors to the IPS to treat the prisoners partaking in the strike, as recommended by international organization in the event of a hunger strike.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel http://www.phr.org.il
Bureau of Palestinian rights committee issues statement concerning
hunger strike in Israeli detention facilities
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/gapal964.doc.htm