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Transfer of Palestinian hunger striker raises force-feeding concerns

Allan’s father said Sunday that Israeli authorities are threatening to force-feed his son.

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On Monday morning 25 Menachem Av, during the predawn hours, a hunger-striking terrorist imprisoned in Israel was transferred to Barzilai where doctors will give him sufficient nutrition to prevent his condition from continuing to deteriorate.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, has called “feeding induced by threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints of individuals, who have opted for the extreme recourse of a hunger strike to protest against their detention… tantamount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, even if intended for their benefit”.

He added that Allaan was placed in intensive hospital care when his body became unable to absorb drinking water.

Palestinian and Israeli-Arab protesters hold posters of Mohammed Allaan, a Palestinian prisoner who is on a long-term hunger strike, during a rally calling for his release in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on August 9, 2015.

Separately on Monday, Palestinian legislator Khalida Jarrar was denied bail by an Israeli military court, which granted prosecutors two more weeks to bring in witnesses, rights group Addameer said.

Hadas Ziv, ethics committee coordinator for Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said it appeared the transfer was made because doctors objected to treating Allaan, who is in his early 30s.

Allaan, a lawyer, is being held under a procedure allowing indefinite internment without charge.

The younger Allan is on hunger strike to protest his administrative detention, a controversial measure that allows Israel to detain suspects without charge for long periods.

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UN officials say hunger strike is “non-violent form of protest” and “fundamental human right” of Palestinian prisoners.

Image Samidoun