Senior UN official voices concern over deteriorating health of Palestinian hunger strikers

Geneva: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday expressed serious concern as the mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails entered its 38th day without resolution, and the health of hundreds of strikers began to deteriorate significantly.
More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners began an open-ended hunger strike on April 17, demanding, amongst other things, an end to administrative detention and solitary confinement, increase in the number and length of family visits and improved access to healthcare.
“I am especially alarmed by reports of punitive measures by the Israeli authorities against the hunger strikers, including restricted access to lawyers and the denial of family visits,” Zeid said. “The right of detainees to access a lawyer is a fundamental protection in international human rights law that should never be curtailed.”
“Various international bodies have repeatedly called on Israel to end its practice of administrative detention. Such detainees should either be charged with an offense and tried according to international standards, or released immediately,” he added.
According to WAFA News Agency, an estimated 6,300 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli jails, mostly outside the occupied Palestinian territory, in a blatant contravention of article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
AB/IINA