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Hunger Strike Lesson (upper elementary_MS).pdf

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5 years later, Dyett High School hunger strikers recall their fight

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For 34 days, parents and activist refrained from eating solid foods. They forced the school district to reopen the neighborhood high school.

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Hunger Strikes Turn Fasting into a Political Tool

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A hunger strike can be an effective nonviolent tool for achieving social change, according to one San Francisco lawyer and community activist.

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| Cut Military Spending. Fund Human Needs.

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Why People Go on Hunger Strikes: A Powerful Tool for Nonviolent Resistance |

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Hunger strikes have been used for centuries as a form of protest and resistance, often in response to perceived injustices or to bring attention to critical issues. This powerful, nonviolent tactic involves individuals voluntarily abstaining from food for a prolonged period, risking their health, and sometimes their lives, to achieve a specific goal or to

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NEW! ASK Britannica... YOUR QUESTIONS. OUR ANSWERS, POWERED BY AI.

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If you can get us a lesson plan or a one pager for students to learn and answer some questions about the hunger strike before Monday that would be wonderful.

Grade appropriate. 4-6 grade, 7-9, 10-12?

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Considerations and Guidelines for Strikers and Support Team

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Hunger strikes have been a recurring news story in 2017. Among many high profile cases, perhaps the most notable is the ongoing strike of Guantanamo prisoners Khalid Qasim and Ahmed Rabbini, who have now refused food since the 20th of September. Both have been imprisoned for the last 15 years without charge.

The non-violent protest of fasting has its roots in pre-Christian Ireland - there are legends of St Patrick using hunger strike - as well as ancient India, with reports documented between 400 to 750BC. It's a form of protest that takes in the Suffragettes, Irish republicans, Gandhi and Cuban dissidents. But what's it's like to starve yourself for a cause, potentially to death?

I asked Human Rights activist and student, Lateef Johar Baloch.
WATCH: Politics of Food - Guantanamo Bay Kitche n
V ICE: Hello Lateef. Why did you go on your hunger strike?
Lateef Johar Baloch: I started my hunger strike unto death on the 22nd of April, 2014. It was to highlight the issue of my friend Zahid Baloch's enforced disappearance by Pakistani security forces in Quetta, Balochistan. Zahid, a student leader, was picked up on the 18th of March, 2014 in front of dozens of eyewitnesses. He remains "missing" until this day.

So the hope was to raise awareness?
The purpose of the hunger strike unto death was to get the attention of the media and international bodies regarding the alarming situation of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of students, human rights workers and political activists in Balochistan by Pakistani security forces. The humanitarian situation in Balochistan is beyond appalling, with disturbing figures confirmed by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights bodies.

Why choose hunger strike as a form of protest?
I am a native of Awaran, one of the poorest and remote areas in Balochistan, where illiteracy and malnutrition rates are highest. The area has been worst hit by military operations conducted by Pakistani paramilitary forces targeting civilians. There is a media blackout in Balochistan. The Pakistani Army does not allow access to any international media to report on Balochistan. New York Times journalist Declan Walsh was asked to leave the country by authorities for his reporting on Balochistan.

So you needed something that really cut through?
On our part, we had practiced all sorts of protests, including token hunger strikes, shutter down strikes, public demonstrations, rallies and long marches demanding immediate stoppage of human rights abuses. It was not helping, and Pakistan continued targeting Baloch teachers, professors, academics, lawyers and others. Myself and colleagues were convinced that an extreme decision like hunger strike unto death was the only way to highlight these abuses.

"The only thing I did not fear was death."

So when you started your strike, what actually happened to you?
In the beginning days I felt extremely hungry and had severe stomach aches. Sometime during the second week the feeling of hunger eventually died and I went through extreme pain all over my body. The most unpleasant and unbearable pain I felt was in my bones. I couldn't sit down straight. I also couldn't concentrate and would get anxious when someone tried to have a conversation with me. Three weeks later I would get unconscious after every three to four hours, and after that I would respond very aggressively to whoever was speaking to me. I felt a lot of breathing difficulties in the last days. I suffered severe bleeding in my stool when I used the washroom. I lost all energy in my body. I couldn't hear properly. I always had a severe headache. I couldn't sleep throughout the strike. The only thing I did not fear was death.

Jesus.
I lost more than 26kg (53lb) of my body weight. There were no muscles. There was only a skeleton left.

I'm pleased you stopped.
I ended my strike after 46 days without food on the 6th of June, 2014, after the request of relatives of the victims, human rights campaigners and senior friends and politicians in Balochistan. They intervened to stop me from dying in front of a brutal and deaf state that Pakistan is.

Healthwise, have you felt aftereffects resulting from the strike?
Yes, the hunger strike not only left long-lasting physical effects, but also mental. I still feel many difficulties due to the strike. It affected my stomach, my memory and my sense of tolerance. I couldn't eat anything other than light food for two months after the strike. If one day I ate a small piece of bread, it resulted in unbearable pain for many days. I still cannot concentrate on my studies properly. I get tired very easily. I forget things and cannot memorise well.

What was the media response to the strike?
The media response was phenomenal. The strike was covered by many local and international media, including AFP, BBC World, Al Jazeera News, Pakistan's own Dawn News and many others. However, social media played the greatest role to highlight my hunger strike. It was all over Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. During the strike I was told that there were people living in different parts of the world who were tweeting support day and night. It was very encouraging.
Follow Lateef at @LateefJohar @jamesjammcmahon
How successful do you feel the strike was in achieving what you set out to?
The strike got the attention of the world, and the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan also got recognition internationally. Many international bodies issued their concerns regarding enforced disappearances in Balochistan. But the practice of enforced disappearance and killings by Pakistani security forces continues, and international bodies are quiet on the issue. The most recent incidents of enforced disappearances are abductions of Baloch women and children from Quetta and Karachi. The Pakistan Army raided a house in Quetta, abducting three women, along with their children. The other recent happening was in Karachi. The Pakistani Rangers [a paramilitary law enforcement organisation] broke into three apartments and abducted a well-known human rights activist, Nawaz Atta, along with eight other teenage students. They are still missing. Our struggle to protest these brutalities is still going on. I will continue this for the rest of my life.

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Lateef Johar Baloch ate nothing for a month-and-a-half to protest enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

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A leading Indian campaigner has been arrested ahead of a planned hunger strike in protest against a new anti-corruption law. But how effective is a hunger strike as a political statement?

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Food is one of life's most taken for granted commodities, and most people reading this article right now will have access to it in one form or another. In today's society, it's almost inconceivable to think about going a day without it. But, imagine not only going days without a single meal, but weeks on end with no sustenance, and then imagine going through this ordeal by choice! Here are five of the longest hunger strikes in history.

Cesar Chavez - 36 Days

Cesar Chavez was born into a poor working class Mexican family in 1927.

Chavez learned early in his life that nothing would be handed to him, and he spent much of his early life working in various farming jobs in California and Arizona. However, Chavez was appalled at the treatment he and his fellow migrant workers received in the U.S, being treated more like slave labour than a valued workforce.

In 1962 Chavez decided to try and change things, he founded the national farm workers association and began to hold rallies and protests, soon gathering thousands of supporters. But, change still didn't come, so he decided to take things to a new level.

Chavez staged several hunger strikes to draw attention to his plight, the longest of which lasted 36 days and resulted in him losing 30 pounds.

Chavez died in 1993, as he has since been commemorated as a hero for his charity work and his highlighting of the issues facing migrant workers.

Solange Fernex - 40 Day

Born in 1934 France, Solange Fernex became one of the most influential politicians the country has ever seen. Her main policy was to increase awareness of the impact that nuclear power was having on the environment, as well as the potential devastation that reactor disasters could wreak.

To raise awareness of her, campaign Solange took part in a 40-day hunger fast with the hope that the public would vote in favour of nuclear disbarment.

Sadly, this was not to be the case, but to this day Solange has gone down in history for her valiant efforts as an activist.

Bobby Sands - 66 Days

Born in Ireland in 1954, Bobby Sands would grow up to be one of the most infamous figures in Irish history.

In 1972 Bobby joined the Provisional IRA, and after being released from prison in 1976 after serving time for possessing four handguns, he returned to his family in West Belfast where he planned the Bombing of The Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry.

The ensuing gun battle that followed led to two of the gang being injured. Sands and the rest of the group fled the scene but were soon arrested and sentenced to 14 years for possession of firearms. Sands was a disruptive prisoner, and after a ruckus spent 22 days in a cell with no furniture, he was naked and was on a Starvation diet. This led to further disruptions, including the "dirty protest", when prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.

In 1981 Sands orchestrated a hunger strike, along with nine other Irish republican prisoners to protest about the removal of Special Category Status, an agreement that gave prisoners convicted of troubles related offences special privileges such as not having to wear uniforms, not having to work, extra visits, etc.. Despite the strike gaining worldwide attention, and Sands being voted as a Member of Parliament during this time, ultimately it cost him and the nine others their lives. After 66 days without accepting food, Sands died of starvation (self-imposed)

Sands death caused rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland, causing the deaths of two people. And at the time of Sands death, British Prime Minister said "Mr Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims." Sands action divided opinions, although it is said the strikes radicalised Irish nationalist politics and rightly or wrongly was the driving force that enabled Sinn FÃ©in to become a mainstream political party.

Bhagat Singh - 116 Days

Bhagat Singh was an Indian national born in 1931 in a district which was owned by the British colonial empire.

Singh became involved in the Indian independence movement, which was dedicated to ending British rule over India, he was committed to the cause, leading to several stints in prison.

However, when he was imprisoned for the alleged murder of Saunders and Channan Singh, he undertook a hunger strike, and began to demand better clothing and hygiene standards within his prison, as well as for the daily manual labour that prisoners were forced to engage in to be ended.

The strike began to increase Singh's appeal and popularity so much that the British government attempted to break the fast themselves by placing bowls of food in his cell, but he was determined and never touched any of it.

Singh finally ended his strike on the 5th of October 1929, by which point he had withered to a mere 119 pounds.

Irom Chanu Samilla - 10 Years

Known as the Iron Lady of Manipurâ€ and holding the remarkable record as the longest hunger striker in the world, Indian-born Irom Chanu Samilla amazingly did not ingest food or water voluntarily for over 500 weeks, only surviving on a nasal drip the government had installed to keep her alive.

Irom began her astonishing campaign on the 5th of November 2000 after ten unarmed civilians were allegedly killed by Indian soldiers in Manipur, a result of the Indian Armed forces special powers act, which gives the Indian military the power to shoot on sight should they feel it is warranted.

Irom was arrested three days into her strike, as in India it is a penal offence to try to commit suicide, so she was forcibly put on a drip to keep her alive. However, as soon as she regained health and was released from custody Irom began her hunger strike anew, which eventually lead to her being incarcerated indefinitely.

Amazingly, Irom did not eat or drink of her own volition until July 26th, 2016, a full 500 weeks since she began. In that time Irom gathered massive worldwide support and even won a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human rights commission.

Source: www.top5s.co.uk

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5 Longest Hunger Strikes In History - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

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Food is one of life's most taken for granted commodities, and most people reading this article right now will have access to it in one form or another. In today's society, it's almost inconceivable to think about going a day without it.

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The Suffragette prisoners' hunger strike protest remains one of the most poignant and disturbing aspects of the struggle for the vote. Suffragettes refused to eat and often drink while imprisoned, threatening to starve themselves to force a response from the authorities.

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Women on Hunger Strike - Google Arts & Culture

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The Suffragette prisoners' hunger strike protest remains one of the most poignant and disturbing aspects of the struggle for the vote. Suffragettes refused to eat and often drink while imprisoned, threatening to starve themselves to force a response from the authorities.

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Research Guides: 1993 UCLA Hunger Strike: Home

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Resources and collections related to the 1993 Hunger Strike

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an incomplete list of recent hunger strikes and people who have conducted a hunger strike.

Alaa Abdelfattah, Egyptian

Maher al-Akhras, Palestinian

Meryem Altun, Turkish prisoner

Ninoy Aquino

Stanislav Aseyev, Ukrainian writer and journalist, kidnapped by militants from so-called Donetsk People's Republic

Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz, SMNI news anchors, television franchise probe, 2023

Igor Bancer, Polish Belarusian musician, activist, journalist, worker, and events organiser

Marwan Barghouti

Chen Shui Bian, President of the Republic of China

Franklin Brito, Venezuela, land dispute, 2010, died

Emil Calmanovici, Communist Romania, political prisoner, 1956, died

Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers union, Arizona, 1968, 1970, 1972

Alfredo Cospito, Italian anarchist prisoner who started a hunger strike on 20 October 2022 against the 41-bis prison regime

Jatindra Nath Das, Indian independence activist and revolutionary

Andrey Derevyankin

Katherine Dunham

Ronald Easterbrook, England, prisoner, 1997, 1999

Becky Edelsohn

Mahatma Gandhi, Indian independence activist, part of campaign of nonviolent resistance to British rule in India

Akbar Ganji

Andrias Ghukasyan

Max Goldstein

Lena Hades

Anna Hazare

J. B. S. Haldane

Larry Hebert

Barry Horne

Charles Hyder, fasts in 1986-87 for 218 days against arms race, nuclear weapons, and nuclear waste

Samer Tariq Issawi

Poopathy Kanapathipillai

Jack Kevorkian

Mustafa Kocak, starved himself to death in protest of his sentencing without a fair trial

Jüri Kukk

Pavel Kushnir, Russian musician and activist, died 2024

Jawar Mohammed, Ethiopian politician and activist, 2021

Kasra Nouri

Jean Lassalle

Antonio Ledezma, Venezuelan politician, 2009

Gloria Lee

Ly Tong

Haia Lifşiţ

Ihar Losik, Belarusian blogger

Joe Madison, known as "The Black Eagle," radio personality and human and civil rights activist, 2021

Anatoly Marchenko

Holger Meins

Akbar Mohammadi

Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwean politician and cleric, 1983

Tony Nicklinson

Jock Palfreeman

Vasudev Balwant Phadke

Darshan Singh Pheruman

Kemal Pir

Olden Polynice, Haitian basketball player who went on a 10-day strike

Muhammad al-Qiq

Mahmudur Rahman, Bangladeshi news editor

Militão Ribeiro

Randall Robinson

George Rolph

Mikheil Saakashvili

Hoda Saber

Arash Sadeghi

Kostas Sakkas

Nigamananda Saraswati, protest against illegal mining in the Ganges River

Jaume Sastre i Font, Catalan teacher in Mallorca

Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian Ground Forces helicopter pilot, kidnapped and detained in Russian prison, 2015 and 2016

Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian filmmaker and writer

Irom Sharmila

Bhagat Singh, Indian socialist revolutionary

Surat Singh Khalsa, Sikh Activist

Mitch Snyder, homeless advocate

Mohamed Soltan, Egyptian opposition activist, 2014

Theresa Spence

Potti Sreeramulu, Indian revolutionary, specifically for the Andhra region independence movement

Thileepan (Rasaiah Parthipan)

Yulia Tymoshenko

Judith Todd, political activist regarding Zimbabwe

Sergey Udaltsov, Russian opposition activist, 2011 and 2014

Lluís Maria Xirinacs, Catalan politician, writer, and religious leader

Lin Yi-hsiung, protest against the construction of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City

Shahrokh Zamani, Iranian Labour Activist, died 2015 in Islamic Republic of Iran's prison

Govinda K.C., Nepali orthopaedic surgeon and philanthropic activist

Ebru Timtik, Kurdish-Turkish human rights lawyer, died 2020

Parit Chiwarak and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, jailed pro-democratic activists, 2021, demanding justice and scrapping of Lese majeste in Thailand

Jeanine Áñez, jailed former president of Bolivia, 2022.

Vojislav Šešelj, Serbian politician

Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 2011

Marinika Tepić, Serbian politician, 2023

Kim Young-sam, South Korean politician

Kim Dae-jung, South Korean politician

Chun Doo-hwan, South Korean politician

Chun Jung-bae, South Korean politician

Moon Sung-hyun, South Korean politician

Woo Sang-ho (politician), South Korea

Choi Byung-ryeol, South Korean politician

Moon Jae-in, South Korean politician

Cho Won-jin, South Korean politician

Kim Sung-tae, South Korean politician

Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Korean politician

Woo Won-shik, South Korean politician

Lee Jae-myung, South Korean politician

Prashant Kishor, Indian politician

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is an incomplete list of recent hunger strikes and people who have conducted a hunger strike.

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From Gandhi to Bobby Sands: Hunger strikers through history

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Hunger strike | History, Protests, Alice Paul, Mahatma Gandhi, Bobby Sands, Cesar Chavez, Aleksey Navalny, & Facts | Britannica

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A hunger strike is a form of nonviolent protest in which a person refuses to eat for a long period of time until certain demands are met.

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Corli Jay, Ahmad Sayles, Olivia Stovicek, Bridget Vaughn, City Bureau

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Stories and Lessons from Inside the Stop General Iron Hunger Strike

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Organizers from Stop General Iron reflect on this spring’s hunger strike.

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3 Ways to Go on a Hunger Strike Safely - wikiHow

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Hunger striking is a highly recognized, but not highly practiced means of protest. To go on a hunger strike can be dangerous, but if you decide to do so, then you should take the necessary precaution to prevent doing any serious damage to…

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What to Know About Hunger Strikes (NYT, 5:2:2023)

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By Nayan Shah, author of Refusal to Eat: A Century of Prison Hunger StrikesIn February 1989, I traveled to Durban, South Africa. I was twenty-two years old and had just graduated from Swarthmore college. I was visiting apartheid South Africa on a Thomas J. Watson fellowship to study religion and com

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ICE guidelines for dealing with Hunger Strikers

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ICE guidelines for dealing with Hunger Strikers

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Anatomy Of A Hunger Strike: Why Is It Done And What Does It Do To The Human Body?

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Anatomy Of A Hunger Strike: Why Is It Done And What Does It Do To The Human Body?

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What Is A Hunger Strike?

A hunger strike is a method of protest during which food is refused. It is mostly used by those who have no other form of protest available -- usually prisoners. Such an action is often aimed at protesting prison conditions, achieving a policy change, or bringing attention to a certain case or cause.

By refusing food (or food and fluids, in the case of what's called a dry hunger strike), protesters put their lives in danger, risking permanent damage to their health and, eventually, death.

What Does A Hunger Strike Do To The Human Body?

Long-term refusal of food affects most organs and systems in the human body. Such behavior causes muscle weakness, vulnerability to infections, psychological problems, and, eventually, organ failure.

It is estimated that if a protester is healthy before going on a hunger strike, and continues to receive fluids, he or she is at risk of dying from malnutrition after six to eight weeks.

However, a protester can die much sooner -- after three weeks if they're seriously ill. If refusing fluids, too, death can come after one week. While the loss of muscle mass may be significant, a person usually dies because of an infection or organ failure.

Systems In The Human Body
That May Be Affected
(During a hunger strike)

While people can survive up to several weeks without food under certain conditions, physical and mental impairment can begin within two to three days. Due to a lack of carbohydrates, the body switches to its fat and protein reserves and starts using them as its main source of energy.

This leads to fat and muscle loss as well as changes in the body's processes. Levels of electrolytes also drop significantly, which can lead to impairment of various bodily functions.

After two weeks, a person can experience dizziness, weakness, loss of coordination, and a low heart rate. Within the next week, he or she may suffer from vision loss or other neurological problems.

After one month or after losing more than 18 percent body weight, there may be permanent damage to the body. The person may experience difficulty swallowing, vertigo, hearing and vision loss, and possible organ failure.

After 45 days, there is a high risk of death, mostly due to infection or cardiovascular collapse.

Hunger Strike Symptoms By Day
(Compared to the length of some hunger strikes occurring in Russia)

Even after a protester decides to end a hunger strike, there is the potential risk of "refeeding syndrome." This syndrome occurs as a result of shifts in fluids and electrolytes, meaning that giving too much food or fluids too quickly may be dangerous and potentially fatal. It may include liver dysfunction, heart arrhythmia, and pulmonary, neurological, or other symptoms.

Therefore, the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence suggests that trained health-care professionals make sure that nutrients are cautiously and gradually introduced to anyone who has refused food for five days or more.

Refeeding Syndrome Signs
(Examples of symptoms)

How Do Officials React To Hunger Strikes?

A hunger strike is a special type of protest in which participants are prepared to harm themselves to achieve a goal. Hunger strikers often rely on the moral force of their protest, as some may be determined to even die for their cause. This type of action might also bring a certain amount of publicity to their case and help them succeed.

There are several reasons why authorities usually don't want a hunger striker to die. For example, it is generally expected that a responsible society will not allow a preventable death, so authorities might face consequences from the public or censure by foreign institutions. In addition, they may fear that, if they let a protester die, he or she could become a martyr for that cause.

That is why officials sometimes forcibly feed hunger strikers -- or threaten to do so. Force-feeding is done against someone's will, usually by inserting a plastic tube through the hunger striker's nose into the stomach. While the goal might be to keep the protester alive, force-feeding is considered to be cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. It is also extremely painful and can cause serious bleeding or other complications.

A Modern History Of Hunger Strikes

It is believed that one of the first major hunger strikes in modern history occurred at the end of the 19th century in Russia.

According to a study written by Kevin Grant, a professor of history at Hamilton College in New York, one of these hunger strikes was recorded in 1878, when political prisoners held in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg refused food to protest against inhumane prison conditions.

In the following years, there were also several hunger strikes by female political prisoners in Siberia, which were "remarkable given the relatively small number of female political prisoners sent" there. One of these strikes started in solidarity with a prisoner, Yelizaveta Kovalskaya, who had been violently transferred after she had allegedly insulted a visiting official. The episode, which resulted in several deaths (some of the prisoners ended their hunger strikes to eat poison) became known as the "Kara tragedy" and the prison was closed soon after.
Yelizaveta Kovalskaya
This so-called "Russian method" of protest, as it was described by several media outlets at the time, was later used by British suffragettes, with the first one being held by Marion Wallace Dunlop in 1909. Due to fears that she might die in prison and thus give the movement more sympathy among the public, she was released after 91 hours. Other suffragettes followed her example. Many were released from prison, but others were forcibly fed.

The next decades would witness many other hunger strikers around the world. India's Mahatma Gandhi staged several hunger strikes to protest British rule, the longest said to have been 21 days. Bobby Sands, a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), starved himself to death in 1981 after 66 days on hunger strike while demanding to be treated as a political prisoner, not as a criminal.

Soviet dissident Anatoly Marchenko went on several hunger strikes and died in prison in 1986, most likely from complications of a hunger strike. Indian activist Irom Sharmila ended her hunger strike in 2016 after refusing food for 16 years -- arguably the longest such fast in the world. The government had force-fed her through a nasal drip for more than 10 years.

Notable Hunger Strikes

Examples Of Recent Hunger Strikes In Russia

Maria Alyokhina, a jailed member of the Russian performance-art punk band Pussy Riot, started a hunger strike because she was not allowed to attend her own parole hearing. She later said that, in an attempt to turn other prisoners against her, prison officials locked inmates in their rooms and restricted their movement. She ended her protest 11 days later after these restrictions were lifted.

Another member of the group, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, started a hunger strike in September 2013 to protest against prison conditions. She was forced to end the fast after nine days due to her health. She was later moved to a different prison.

Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko said she was captured by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and smuggled into Russia in 2014. She was charged with involvement in the deaths of two journalists, which she denies, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.

She launched several hunger strikes, including one that was 83 days long. On April 6, 2016, she started a "dry" hunger strike, refusing both food and fluids. She was eventually swapped for two Russian prisoners in May 2016 after serving two years of her sentence.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, arrested in Crimea in 2014 after Russia's forcible annexation, started a hunger strike on May 14, 2018. He demanded the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia. Under the threat of force-feeding, he agreed to take oral nutritional supplements about two months later, according to his lawyer.

Facing permanent damage to his health and the prospect of being force-fed, he ended the hunger strike on October 6, 2018. He served five years of a 20-year sentence before being released in a prisoner swap between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists.

Russian opposition activist Lyubov Sobol launched a hunger strike in July 2019 after she was barred from running in an election for Moscow's city legislature. She ended her monthlong protest due to concerns over the health of one of her aides who had joined the hunger strike in solidarity.

Jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny began his hunger strike on March 31, 2021. He was protesting his medical treatment after his personal doctors were not allowed to examine him when he complained of pain in his legs and back. He ended the hunger strike 24 days later after his doctors warned him that he was at risk of suffering cardiac arrest.

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Anatomy Of A Hunger Strike: Why Is It Done And What Does It Do To The Human Body?

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Why do protesters put their lives in danger and use hunger strikes as a form of protest? What happens to the human body when it doesn't have enough nutrients for such a long period of time? And what sparked the first major hunger strike believed to have been held in Russia?

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Background and overview of hunger strikes 

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Background and overview of hunger strikes 

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The deliberate and public refusal of food, and sometimes water, as a moral protest against injustice or abuse of power. A single individual can hold a hunger strike, or hundreds together in solidarity.

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Hunger Strikes in Israeli Prisons (Red Cross, 8/23)

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Hunger Strikes in Israeli Prisons (Red Cross, 8/23)

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International Committee of the Red Cross

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Hunger strikes are a type of protest. Historically and worldwide, detainees have turned to hunger strikes to protest their detention, their treatment in detention or their conditions of detention. Detainees in Israeli places of detention at times have used, and continue to use, this same form of protest.

The ICRC does not judge the reasons or choices for such forms of protest, just as it does not generally take position on the reasons for which people are detained. Where possible, the ICRC will increase the frequency of visits to detainees on hunger strike, to monitor their situation more closely, with a focus on their health, family contact and well-being. ICRC visits aim to review the treatment they receive and their conditions of detention, to ensure they meet relevant international standards.

The detaining authorities are responsible for the health and medical follow up of all detainees on hunger strike. The ICRC's visits to detainees on hunger strike do not replace the obligations and responsibilities of the detaining authorities in relation to their health and medical follow up of detainees. Regardless of whether a hunger striker refuses treatment or not, it is the obligation of detaining authorities to ensure access to appropriate care. This may include transfers to health facilities with the capacity to manage the extremely complex medical consequences of a prolonged hunger strike.

Our teams also remind the authorities of the importance of family visits. ICRC colleagues stay in contact with families throughout a hunger strike, to ensure they are kept updated about their loved ones' situation, and of any visits to them conducted by the ICRC.

Crucially, as a neutral organisation, the ICRC cannot advocate for the end of a hunger strike, nor for the authorities concerned to agree with the striker's demands. It can, however, encourage the strikers, their representatives and the authorities involved to keep communicating and maintaining contact to find a solution to avoid grave health consequences and loss of life.

The Q&A below offers an overview of the ICRC's role in this regard, both during individual and collective hunger strikes, and the key principles underpinning our work.
What is the ICRC's position and scope of work relating to hunger strikes?
The ICRC respects any detainee's decision to start a hunger strike and neither supports nor condemns this decision. It also does not judge the merits or legitimacy of hunger strikes as a means of protest. Our position is that of a neutral intermediary urging those involved to find a solution and talk through demands.

The scope of ICRC work relating to hunger strikers extends to their conditions of detention and their treatment. This includes visits from ICRC and private interviews with the hunger striker(s) to determine whether their treatment both is dignified and humane. When needed, the ICRC also engages with the detaining authorities on the problems they may have identified in a bilateral and confidential manner. If asked by the detainee, the ICRC informs the family of the visit.
What can the ICRC do when detainees go on hunger strike?
With the agreement of the detaining authorities, ICRC teams visit Israeli places of detention, or other facilities, when a hunger strike is in process. During this time, they carefully assess the situation to understand the issue(s) at stake. This is done through private interview s with the detainees, and discussions with the prison managers, custodial staff and health staff involved.

During any hunger strike, the ICRC urges both the detaining authority and the detainee to find a solution. It strives to ensure that the rights and physical and mental integrity of detainees on hunger strike are respected. This includes respecting their choice to continue or to abandon the hunger strike, and their right to proper care and treatment as required by their condition, if they consent to it.

Subject to authorization by the detaining authority, the ICRC aims to assure regular visits to detainees from the start of their hunger strike through to its resolution, to assess their health condition and the medical care they receive both in places of detention and in hospital facilities to which they may be transferred. ICRC delegates also stay in contact with the families of detainees on hunger strike.
Are there any activities falling outside the scope of ICRC work during hunger strikes?
The ICRC operates differently to other international or non-government organisations working on detention-related issues. Due to its mandate, the ICRC is granted access to detainees that is generally denied to many other organisations. While some international organisations often take public stands on issues relating to detention, such as hunger strikes, due to its confidential dialogue with authorities, the ICRC will seek to limit its public communication.

The ICRC does not publicly provide health updates on a hunger striker's condition due to this confidential dialogue with authorities.

The ICRC is not a source for statistics on hunger strikes: these are provided by the detaining authorities.

As a neutral humanitarian actor, it is not ICRC's role to pronounce itself on the legitimacy or not of the demands of the detainees and/or to promote them, nor question the reasons for their detention.

The ICRC is unable to seek or obtain the release of hunger strikers.

The detaining authorities are responsible for the health and medical follow up of all detainees on hunger strike. The ICRC visits to detainees on hunger strike do not replace the obligations and responsibilities of the detaining authorities towards detainees on hunger strike especially in relation to their health and medical follow up.

The ICRC does not take part in the negotiations between the authorities and the detainees on hunger strike. It can act as a neutral intermediary if asked by both sides.

Regardless of whether a hunger striker refuses treatment or not, it is the obligation of detaining authorities to ensure access to appropriate treatment. This includes transfers to health facilities with the clinical capacity to manage the extremely complex medical consequences of a prolonged hunger strike.
What is the role of an ICRC medical doctor during a visit to detainees on hunger strike?
ICRC medical personnel play a specific and crucial role: they assess the medical condition of detainees on hunger strike and seek to ensure that their refusal to intake food is based on a voluntary decision and in full knowledge of the possible consequences of fasting on their health and life. An ICRC doctor must also attempt to make sure the hunger strikers are not suffering from a mental illness. If they were, it would call into question the strikers' capacity to make a voluntary and fully informed choice to refuse nourishment. ICRC health staff also provide hunger strikers with independent and confidential medical advice.

ICRC doctors speak with the health staff managing the hunger strikers, to ensure the medical care available meets current technical and ethical standards, and that options for hospital transfer exist if needed. This dialogue is especially important regarding the critical health issues that can arise from prolonged fasting or alternatively, from resuming nourishment after a prolonged fast, should the hunger striker choose to cease his strike. It is the decision of the detainee on hunger strike to accept, refuse or cease medical treatment. Regardless of whether a hunger striker refuses treatment or not, it is the obligation of detaining authorities to ensure access to appropriate treatment exists. This includes transfers to health facilities.

If deemed necessary - for instance during collective hunger strikes - the ICRC may also mobilize additional staff (including medical) and resources.
What is the ICRC's position on the forced feeding and forced treatment of detainees?
The ICRC is opposed to forced treatment of mentally competent patients hunger strikers: the choices of mentally competent and fully informed patients to accept or refuse medical treatment must be respected: forced treatment by health staff of a mentally competent hunger striker constitutes a grave violation of internationally accepted medical ethics.

Moreover, the ICRC considers forced feeding of mentally competent hunger strikers as a form of ill-treatment, which may constitute a violation of international human rights, criminal and humanitarian law. The ICRC aligns its opposition to the forced feeding of hunger strikers to the World Medical Association's, as expressed in the Declaration of Malta (1991/2017) and the Declaration of Tokyo (1975/2016). Specifically, the latter states: "Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the doctor as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially. The decision as to the capacity of the prisoner to form such a judgement should be confirmed by at least one other independent doctor. The consequences of the refusal of nourishment shall be explained by the doctor to the prisoner."

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The ICRC's role in hunger strikes and key working principles

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Hunger strikes are a type of protest. Historically and worldwide, detainees have turned to hunger strikes to protest their detention, their treatment in detention or their conditions of detention. Detainees in Israeli places of detention at times have used, and continue to use, this same form of protest.

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Northern Ireland Hunger Strikes - Lesson

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Northern Ireland Hunger Strikes - Lesson