Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners taking part in a hunger strike have shown an alarming deterioration in their health as one of them has entered the third month of refusing food, supporters have said.
Heba Muraisi, 31, who is on day 65 of her hunger strike, is said to be suffering from muscle spasms and breathing problems, while Kamran Ahmed, on day 58, has reported intermittent hearing loss.
The third remaining prisoner taking part in the protest is Lewie Chiaramello, 22, who has type 1 diabetes and so has been fasting every other day for 44 days.
Dr James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, said the three were already “well into the critical phase”, which he described as beyond three weeks, and he warned that “things can decline very quickly and irreversibly”.
Interviewed by the Guardian through an intermediary, Ahmed, 28, who is being held at Pentonville prison in north London and who was hospitalised for a fifth time last week, said: “I’m worried but being scared does not mean for one second I am not willing as the government ministers play ping pong with our health.
“I intend to continue my hunger strike; perhaps they wait for me to leave in a body bag or [be] hospitalised for a sixth time. The way my chest hurts when I speak and races, it doesn’t feel too far in the near future.
“I know the consequences but I think the onus shouldn’t be on me to answer that question; rather, the onus should be on the government.”
The rolling hunger strike began on 2 November with demands including immediate bail, ending the ban on Palestine Action, closing down the UK sites of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems and ending censorship of the prisoners’ communications.
Muraisi, Ahmed and Chiaramello will all have spent more than 18 months in jail before they are tried for activities claimed by Palestine Action, well above the standard pre-trial custody limit of six months.
Five prisoners previously on hunger strike have paused their action, the latest being Teuta Hoxha, who stopped refusing food on Saturday after 60 days.
The hunger strike is believed to be the biggest such coordinated action in the UK since those by IRA prisoners in 1981, when 10 people died. The earliest death was after 46 days and four died between 59 and 61 days.
Ahmed said: “I don’t think any of the hunger strikers wish to die, but it’s funny, if I potentially pass away, does it only matter because I have a [UK] passport? Are the Palestinians disposable numbers?”
He said watching “random cooking shows”, his Islamic faith and “hearing the protests echo through the Pentonville grounds” had kept him going.
Smith dismissed “nonsense” by detractors questioning how the hunger strikers were still alive. “Their bodies are breaking down as we speak,” he said. “And I think the reason that we haven’t necessarily seen something really catastrophic happen yet is that we have, over the course of several decades, seen some advancement in what we know medically, the sort of supplementation they’re getting.”
He said heart problems and infections were major risks and hearing and visual problems were particularly concerning because they could relate to neurological functioning.
The prisoners minister, James Timpson, said: “Prison healthcare teams provide NHS care and continuously monitor the situation. These prisoners are charged with serious offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage. Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.
“Ministers will not meet with them – we have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system. It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases.”
The Ministry of Justice has said agreeing to the prisoners’ request for a meeting with them or their representatives would create “perverse incentives” for others to put themselves at risk.
#Health #Palestine #Action #hunger #strikers #deteriorating #supporters #news