Addameer: Al Qeiq has been forcibly treated and is in a life-threatening condition
by samidounny
Addameer confirms
that the administrative detainee Journalist Mohammad Al Qeiq, who is on
a hunger strike, has been forcibly treated (as opposed to force-fed)
and is in a life-threatening condition. Al-Qeiq lost consciousness and
was subsequently transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. Journalist
Al-Qeiq, who has been on hunger strike for 55 days, in a joint visit by
Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights in the Afula Hospital on 18
January 2016, stated that on Friday 15 January 2016, he felt severe pain
on the right side of his body, which resulted in his loss of
consciousness. When he woke up, he found himself in the Intensive Care
Unit at Afula hospital.
Al-Qeiq
added that Ethical Medical Committee in the Afula hospital told him on
Sunday 10 January 2016 that he would be forcibly treated, and later that
day a group of jailers forcibly held his arms and legs, after which the
doctors placed the IV in his vein, which was kept until Thursday 14
January 2016.
Al-Qeiq
stated that some of the doctors pushed him to end his hunger strike,
through attempting to convince him to consume Ensure, milk, and
chocolate, but he refused. Addameer reaffirms that forced treatment of
Al-Qeiq and coerced medical examinations is a breach of international
humanitarian law and international human rights law, as it constitutes
an act that contravenes the human dignity of detainees and prisoners.
Addameer also refers to the UN statement that: “The principle of an
individual’s right to informed and voluntary refusal of medical measures
is reiterated in several basic United Nations human rights documents
where lack of free and informed consent is considered a clear violation
of an individual’s right to health. ”[1]
Addameer
affirms that there is no justification for using forced treatment or
force-feeding of the hunger-striking administrative detainee Al-Qeiq,
taking into account the fact that he is fully aware of his decisions and
fully understands his critical health condition. Al-Qeiq has refused to
accept any medical treatment or examination, which means that any
forced treatment without his consent could negatively affect his health
condition and may put his life in danger, which has happened in
precedent cases of force-feeding used by occupation forces during the
Nafha prison hunger strike in 1980, which resulted in the death of
numerous Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Addameer
calls for immediate action to save Al-Qeiq’s life, who has been on
hunger strike for 55 days in protest of his administrative detention
without charge or trial. Al-Qeiq is in a life-threatening condition in
Afula hospital and is refusing to take any food or supplements,
including vitamins.
[1] “UN Joint Statement on new Israeli law on force-feeding of detainees,” 8 August 2015, Jerusalem. Available at http://www.emro.who.int/pse/
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