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MOH Directives on Hunger Strike Violate Medical Ethics

Physicians of PHRI call on the World Medical Association to instruct doctors around the world not to cooperate with the IPS's plans to import doctors from abroad to force strikers.

Protest in Solidarity with Hunger Strikers, Photo by ActiveStills 2016

Physicians of PHRI to heads of the Israeli health system: The directives of the Ministry of Health regarding the treatment of the hunger strikers violate medical ethics and undermine the medical community in Israel

Physicians members of PHRI call on the World Medical Association to instruct doctors around the world not to cooperate with the IPS’s plans to import doctors from abroad to force strikers

The directives issued by the Ministry of Health and the Israel Prison Service regarding the hunger striking Palestinian prisoners violate medical ethics and threaten to undermine the medical community in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) today told the heads of the Israeli health system and the World Medical Association (WMA). Among those signed on to the letter to the Israeli authorities are:
Professor Dani Flic, Professor Nadav Davidovich, Professor Yoel Donchin, Dr. Ruchama Marton, Dr. Bella Kaufman, Dr. Rafik Masalha, Dr. Galit Artum, Dr. Raad Haj Yahia, Dr. Mushira Abu Diab.

In their letter, the doctors demanded that the heads of Israel’s health system refrain from any move that will place doctors in a situation of violation of medical ethics and, along these lines, called to for the Israeli authorities cancel plans for a field hospital in Ketziot Prison. In its call to the World Medical Association (WMA), PHRI calls upon the organization to instruct doctors worldwide not to cooperate with the IPS program to “import” doctors from abroad that will force feed hunger strikers.

In their call, the doctors expressed concern over the recent directives issued by the Ministry of Health. “There is concern that the Ministry of Health in particular and the Israeli health system in general will become the instrument of the policies of the Ministry of Public Security and the Israeli Prison Service, contrary to their mission and medical ethics, while blurring the line between security considerations and the patient’s well-being and medical needs.”

Regarding the intention to establish a field hospital in Ketziot Prison, the doctors wrote, “Treatment of the hunger strike within the incarceration system, in IPS facilities and in field hospitals operated by the army—which will operate in the form of a closed military camp without transparency and external supervision—heightens the risk of violation of medical ethics and the undermining of the trust of the hunger striker in those giving treatment.” They further stated that “this can lead to an incorrect assessment of the situation by medical personnel and may expose the strikers to unnecessary risks and even increase the chances of loss of life.”

Regarding the directive that a doctor who refuses to force treat must find a replacement who will, the signatories wrote “this is a distortion of the rules regarding the treatment of hunger strikers and it places doctors in a situation in which they have to fight for their right to observe the rules of medical ethics vis-a-vis the government ministry responsible for them.”

Regarding the force feeding of hunger strikers, whether by medical professionals from Israel or abroad, the letter states: “This will affect the medical profession in Israel as a whole and will undermine the basis on which medical treatment is handled as well as the treatment of patients who are not held in prisons.”

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For additional details, please contact:
Ran Yaron, Tel: +972546680857

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