Appeal v. Decision to Keep Hunger- Striker Handcuffed to Hospital Bed

/ August 19, 2016

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) submitted an appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, August 17, concerning the conditions in which the hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed is being held during his hospitalization. Attorney Tamir Blank was appealing an earlier regional court decision which rejected a request that Kayed, who has been on hunger strike for some 66 days, no longer be handcuffed to his hospital bed at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, and that outside doctors be allowed to check his health.

Palestinian women take part in a protest in front of the Nablus offices of the International Red Cross in the West Bank, August 08, 2016. Their protest was in solidarity with prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) held by Israel. In the poster to the left is Bilal Kayed, who has been on hunger strike for 66 days to protest his administrative detention. To the right is Ahed Abu Ghalma who has been detained by Israel for ten years following his illegal abduction by Israeli forces from a Palestinian prison in Jericho along with six other prisoners in 2006. The latter poster reads: “Life sentence + five years; Resistance … must be curbed by breaking.”

Palestinian women take part in a protest in front of the Nablus offices of the International Red Cross in the West Bank, August 08, 2016. Their protest was in solidarity with prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) held by Israel. In the poster to the left is Bilal Kayed, who has been on hunger strike for 66 days to protest his administrative detention. To the right is Ahed Abu Ghalma who has been detained by Israel for ten years following his illegal abduction by Israeli forces from a Palestinian prison in Jericho along with six other prisoners in 2006. The latter poster reads: “Life sentence + five years; [One] resisting … must be curbed by being broken.” (Photo: Activestills)

Attorney Blank, along with Israeli Physicians for Human Rights, condemned the Beersheba court’s “inhumane decision.” The Israel Prison Service had previously justified the decision to keep Kayed handcuffed to his bed in order to “prevent an attempt to free him.” Blank called the excuse invalid, noting that four Israeli guards were in Kayed’s room at all times. The lawyer said that such procedures negatively impacted both Kayed’s physical condition as well as his long term psychological health. Blank added that a rejection of this appeal by the Supreme Court would have implications for other Palestinian prisoners in similar situations.

After being sentenced to six months of administrative detention on June 13 — an Israeli policy of internment without charges being submitted or trial — the day he was to be released after completing more than 14 years in prison, Kayed declared an open-ended hunger strike. Israel’s policy of administrative detention, almost exclusively used against Palestinians, has been widely criticized by human rights groups which have also accused Israel of using the policy to erode Palestinian political and social life by detaining scores of Palestinians without proof of wrongdoing.

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