Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeUncategorizedIsrael passes law allowing force feeding of prisoners

Israel passes law allowing force feeding of prisoners

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The Israeli parliament approved Thursday a law allowing prisoners on hunger strike to be force fed if their life is in danger or they face chronic health problems, a spokesman said.

The law, which seeks to prevent imprisoned Palestinian militants from pressuring Israel by refusing food, was initially approved by cabinet in June 2014 at the height of a mass hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners, during which dozens were hospitalised.

While the law does not specifically mention Palestinians, Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who led the legislation, said it was necessary since “hunger strikes of terrorists in prisons have become a means to threaten Israel.”

The law, which passed by 46 votes to 40, “will be used only if a doctor determines that the continued hunger strike will create an immediate risk to the life of a prisoner or long-term damage to his health,” David Amsalem of the ruling Likud party said.

But opposition members decried the new measure, with the Arab Joint List of parties criticising “a law to torture Palestinian prisoners, aimed at uprooting their legitimate struggle”.

It said the law reflected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s government`s “distorted take on fundamental democratic values.”

The law had been vehemently opposed by the Israeli Medical Association, which warned it would “order doctors to act solely according to the rules of ethics, and not feed or nourish hunger strikers against their will.”

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