Three Palestine Action-linked prisoners ended their prolonged hunger strike on Wednesday after the British government decided not to award a multi-billion-pound contract to the UK subsidiary of Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems. Four others who paused their hunger strike agreed not to resume it.
Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed ended their hunger strikes after 73 days and 66 days, respectively. Chiaramello, who has Type 1 Diabetes and refused to eat food and went on a hunger strike every other day, was on day 46, MiddleEast Eye reported.
As part of the larger Filton 24 group, the hunger strikers have been held under terrorism charges without trial for more than a year, accused of causing £1 million in criminal damage to an Elbit factory in Bristol. The first phase of the Filton trial is currently underway, alongside the judicial review of Palestine Action.
Several pro-Palestinian activists and politicians have criticised the Labour government for not meeting the families of the prisoners and addressing their demands.
Their key demands are a fair trial, immediate bail, deproscription of Palestine Action, closing down the UK sites of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems and ending censorship of the prisoners’ communications.
On December 26, a statement by UN experts on the hunger strikers raised “serious questions about compliance with international human rights law and standards, including obligations to protect life and prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.
The group asserted that hunger strikes are “often a measure of last resort” when other avenues of protest have been “exhausted”.
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