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Annual Violations Report
• Force-Feeding Law – A legal cover for torture
On July 30th, 2015, the Israeli Knesset approved a law sanctioning
the force feeding of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons. The
bill, proposed by the Israeli Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan,
passed its second and third readings with 46 votes in favor.
The occupation authorities force fed Palestinian detainees in Nafha
prison in 1980, which led to the death of three prisoners: prisoner Rasem
Halaweh, who passed away in July 20 th , 1980, prisoner Ali Al-Ja’fari,
who passed away in July 24 th , 1980, and prisoner Ishaq Maragha, who
passed away of beatings he encountered in Ohal Keidar (Beersheba)
prison 1983. As a result, the Israeli Supreme Court suspended the
force feeding.
Despite its suspension for years, Minister of Internal Security Gilad
Erdan first proposed to reinstate the law as an amendment to the prison
laws in retaliation against the mass hunger strike undertaken by the
Palestinian prisoners’ movement in 2012. It came as an attempt to deny
the prisoners their right to peacefully protest the arbitrary measures
and inhumane treatment they face. The first reading of the amendment
was approved in 2014 before it progressed into the “Force-Feeding of
Hunger-Striking Prisoners” bill. It states that if the health of a prisoner
will be in imminent danger due to hunger strike, a court can order the
force feeding of the prisoner in the presence of a doctor who should
exert every effort to obtain the prisoner’s permission; the force feeding
will proceed even if the prisoner refused. The bill was approved in its
second and third readings in 2015. 2
Force feeding usually involves a
nasogastric tube being forcibly
placed into the nasal cavity,
through the esophagus and into
the stomach. It can also be done
with injecting nutrients directly into
the bloodstream, or injecting food
into the stomach via Percutaneous
Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG)
tubes through the outer abdominal wall. All of the methods cause
severe pains, acute inflammation, and damage to the surrounding
tissue. The force feeding orders are issued in closed court sessions
2. To further read on the bill, visit http://fs.knesset.gov.il/19/law/19_Is2_pb_306487.pdf
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