petition (H)
On 26 August 2004, Adalah filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel demanding that the Court issue an order nisi asking the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to explain why salt is not being provided on a daily basis to prisoners participating in the hunger strike in various prisons around the country. Adalah also requested that the Supreme Court issue an order of injunction prohibiting the IPS from confiscating salt from the cells of hunger-striking prisoners. Adalah further asked the Court to schedule an urgent hearing of the petition. The petition was submitted on behalf of family members of prisoners participating in the hunger strike, as well as several Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, against the IPS and Minister of Internal Security.
Some 3,000 prisoners are currently taking part in the hunger strike, which began on 15 August 2004, in protest against the poor living conditions in Israeli prisons. When the prisoners initially embarked upon their hunger strike, they stated that the strike would involve refusing food, not fluids and salt. However, from the beginning of the strike, prison guards confiscated various materials from the cells of the striking prisoners, including salt.
On 18 August 2004, following reports of the IPS's confiscation of salt from prisoners' cells, Adalah contacted the IPS demanding the return, among other things, of salt to prisoners, as not ingesting salt on a daily basis puts the health of the prisoners in danger. The IPS responded that, in accordance with IPS medical regulations, it is not necessary to add salt to drinking water during the first two weeks of a hunger strike, since the lack of salt during this period does not damage the health of the striking prisoners. Adalah contacted the IPS and Attorney General several times requesting copies of the IPS medical regulations regarding treatment of striking prisoners. Adalah has yet to receive these documents.
In the petition, Adalah attorney Abeer Baker argued that confiscating salt from the cells of prisoners and the refusal of the IPS to provide striking prisoners with salt on a daily basis is illegal, as it breaches, without any legal authority, the constitutional rights of prisoners on a hunger strike to bodily integrity and dignity, and their rights to health and personal autonomy. Adalah further argued that the IPS lacks the authority to order the confiscation of salt, since “[the existence of] internal procedures do not grant the IPS authority to infringe upon the basic rights of the prisoners on the hunger strike.” The IPS claims that the confiscation of salt is a disciplinary measure taken against the hunger strike, which is classified in article 56 (8) of the Israel Prison Service Order – 1971, as a disciplinary offence. Adalah argues that, “confiscating salt from the cells of prisoners, who are currently surviving solely on water, without any additives, may result in immediate and severe damage to prisoners' physical well-being and health.” Two expert medical opinions included in the petition were provided by internal medicine specialists. According to these expert opinions, abstention from ingesting salt in daily drinking water by a hunger striker will result in the infliction of damage to the body and health of the person, since “refraining from ingesting suitable amounts of salt on a daily basis may be life-threatening as a result of the drop in sodium levels…” Adalah further argues that, under these circumstances, “any additional delay in providing salt to the prisoners participating in the hunger strike may endanger their well-being and violate their constitutional rights to life and bodily integrity.”
Adalah stated that the IPS claims on the one hand to be concerned about the well-being of the hunger-striking prisoners, and yet, on the other hand, is accelerating health risks by confiscating salt, which is an essential mineral for the human body, particularly for a person on hunger strike. Adalah further contended that the IPS, which is entrusted with protecting the prisoners, is thereby obligated to care for their health and well-being. The first principle in The UN Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, for example, specifies that prison medical staff are obliged, among other things, to safeguard prisoner’ well-being.
Adalah further stressed in the petition that the prisoners’ rights to life and bodily integrity are guaranteed whenever they are behind prison bars, including when on hunger strike. “The obligation of the IPS is to protect their rights, and not to violate them through the illegal and overly-broad disciplinary steps currently being taken against the hunger strike.”
On 26 August 2004, the Supreme Court provisionally denied the petitioners’ request for an order of injunction. On 29 August 2004 the Attorney General’s office submitted an initial response to the petition. The initial response argues, among other things, that IPS medical regulations determine that two weeks after the beginning of a hunger strike, the hunger-strikers are to be provided, upon the order of a medical physician, with water enriched with essential vitamins and minerals. The AG further claimed that these are already being provided to the prisoners several times a day. As to prisoner who joined the hunger strike at a later stage, the AG argues that in accordance with the regulations, these prisoners will be provided with the necessary vitamins and minerals within the next few days. The Supreme Court will conduct a hearing on this petition on 31 August 2004.
H.C 7837 Lila Bourgal et.al. v. The Israel Prison Service et. al.