Jew World Order

The Red Cross also said in a statement that the detainees are in imminent danger of death.

On April 17, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners began the hunger strike to protest against imprisonment without charge and solitary confinement exercised by the Tel Aviv regime.

There have been several demonstrations across the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to express solidarity with the prisoners.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Nadia Dibsy, spokesperson for ICRC, to hear her opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you know about the current condition of these six men?

Dibsy: As you mentioned the International Community of the Red Cross issued a statement a few days ago to explain and to state its extreme concern with regards to the condition of those Palestinian detainees who began a hunger strike some for as long as 74 days.

We are extremely concerned about the deterioration in their health conditions and we are urgently calling on the Israeli authorities to take all necessary measures, for six of these detainees on long-term hunger strike to be urgently transferred to a suitable hospital that can provide adequate medical and nursing care.

Press TV: The respond so far has been what, Nadia?

Dibsy: What we can say is that we have an ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities, the fact that we came out with the statement publicly a few days ago does not mean that we have not been having this kind of discussion with the Israeli authorities right from the start.

There are certain obligations on the state of Israel as signatory of the Fourth Geneva Convention but also as the detaining authority and also with regards to international standards on hunger strikes of the World Medical Association.

These are things we have reminded the Israeli authorities of and we saw fit for it to be done publicly as I said due to the deteriorating condition of the hunger strikers.

There is an ongoing dialogue with them and we will continue to raise these issues with them bilaterally and confidentially.

Press TV: You take your neutrality and your organization’s impartiality in all your operations very, very seriously but could you describe what you have been told about the current physical or perhaps emotional condition of some of the prisoners you have had the opportunity to meet and speak with.

Dibsy: As you said there is an ICRC doctor who is currently visiting the detainees as I said on long-term hunger strike and we have to mention also that there are over a thousand other detainees according to the figures in media who have also been on hunger strike since the 17th of April.

So our medical team has been reinforced in order to cope with this extra number of detainees. What the doctor does usually when he visits with the detainees is he listens to them, he talks with them, he explains to them the consequences of a prolonged hunger strike.

However as you explained due to the neutrality of ICRC, our work as a humanitarian organization is to make sure the detainees understand the medical consequences that accompany a long-term hunger strike.

However it is not for the ICRC to give an opinion or even advice on whether a detainee should continue a hunger strike or not, even with a gravely deteriorating health condition. We respect the free will of the detainees to make this decision.

Press TV: So you are not trying to force people to eat?

Dibsy: The International Community of the Red Cross is definitely against forced feeding. Based on our position in the World Medical Association and the Declarations of Malta and Tokyo we are absolutely against forced feeding.

We believe that every detainee has the right to make the decision freely to go on hunger strike and therefore the job of the detaining authorities which we have reminded the authorities to provide every medical care and every medical treatment the detainee has agreed to receive and that their free will and human dignity needs to be respected.

The other issue that we are extremely concerned about is the fact that for the moment the Israeli authorities have not approved our numerous requests for family visits.

As you know the families of these detainees have been on long-term hunger strike and have not been able to see them face to face. What we have done to alleviate in a very small measure this distance and the suffering that they have is to visit them ourselves and to transmit all messages.

However at this stage because of the grave deterioration in their condition we feel that it is of the utmost urgency that the Israeli authorities on a purely humanitarian basis consider our request for family visits urgently.

Press TV: What happens next Nadia, because this seems to be a crisis with unfortunately a rather disastrous and one way or the other? There does not seem to be a happy middle ground here.

Dibsy: As you said the International Community of the Red Cross is also extremely concerned about the situation and as you mentioned the longer the hunger strike goes on, the graver the consequences for the hunger strikers not only on their medical condition but also on the extreme suffering of their families.

Therefore all we can do for the moment is to continue our visits, continue the doctor visits to these people who are detained in the hospital of Ramallah prison, talking to them and explaining to the authorities the needs that I explained earlier and basically the fact that they need to be transferred.

Six of these detainees need to be urgently transferred to a facility that can provide adequate medical and nursing care.

In addition to that their families are in urgent need of seeing them. We are talking about basic humanitarian needs and we are urging the Israeli authorities to take our request into consideration.

AHK/PKH

The Red Cross also said in a statement that the detainees are in imminent danger of death.

On April 17, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners began the hunger strike to protest against imprisonment without charge and solitary confinement exercised by the Tel Aviv regime.

There have been several demonstrations across the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to express solidarity with the prisoners.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Nadia Dibsy, spokesperson for ICRC, to hear her opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you know about the current condition of these six men?

Dibsy: As you mentioned the International Community of the Red Cross issued a statement a few days ago to explain and to state its extreme concern with regards to the condition of those Palestinian detainees who began a hunger strike some for as long as 74 days.

We are extremely concerned about the deterioration in their health conditions and we are urgently calling on the Israeli authorities to take all necessary measures, for six of these detainees on long-term hunger strike to be urgently transferred to a suitable hospital that can provide adequate medical and nursing care.

Press TV: The respond so far has been what, Nadia?

Dibsy: What we can say is that we have an ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities, the fact that we came out with the statement publicly a few days ago does not mean that we have not been having this kind of discussion with the Israeli authorities right from the start.

There are certain obligations on the state of Israel as signatory of the Fourth Geneva Convention but also as the detaining authority and also with regards to international standards on hunger strikes of the World Medical Association.

These are things we have reminded the Israeli authorities of and we saw fit for it to be done publicly as I said due to the deteriorating condition of the hunger strikers.

There is an ongoing dialogue with them and we will continue to raise these issues with them bilaterally and confidentially.

Press TV: You take your neutrality and your organization’s impartiality in all your operations very, very seriously but could you describe what you have been told about the current physical or perhaps emotional condition of some of the prisoners you have had the opportunity to meet and speak with.

Dibsy: As you said there is an ICRC doctor who is currently visiting the detainees as I said on long-term hunger strike and we have to mention also that there are over a thousand other detainees according to the figures in media who have also been on hunger strike since the 17th of April.

So our medical team has been reinforced in order to cope with this extra number of detainees. What the doctor does usually when he visits with the detainees is he listens to them, he talks with them, he explains to them the consequences of a prolonged hunger strike.

However as you explained due to the neutrality of ICRC, our work as a humanitarian organization is to make sure the detainees understand the medical consequences that accompany a long-term hunger strike.

However it is not for the ICRC to give an opinion or even advice on whether a detainee should continue a hunger strike or not, even with a gravely deteriorating health condition. We respect the free will of the detainees to make this decision.

Press TV: So you are not trying to force people to eat?

Dibsy: The International Community of the Red Cross is definitely against forced feeding. Based on our position in the World Medical Association and the Declarations of Malta and Tokyo we are absolutely against forced feeding.

We believe that every detainee has the right to make the decision freely to go on hunger strike and therefore the job of the detaining authorities which we have reminded the authorities to provide every medical care and every medical treatment the detainee has agreed to receive and that their free will and human dignity needs to be respected.

The other issue that we are extremely concerned about is the fact that for the moment the Israeli authorities have not approved our numerous requests for family visits.

As you know the families of these detainees have been on long-term hunger strike and have not been able to see them face to face. What we have done to alleviate in a very small measure this distance and the suffering that they have is to visit them ourselves and to transmit all messages.

However at this stage because of the grave deterioration in their condition we feel that it is of the utmost urgency that the Israeli authorities on a purely humanitarian basis consider our request for family visits urgently.

Press TV: What happens next Nadia, because this seems to be a crisis with unfortunately a rather disastrous and one way or the other? There does not seem to be a happy middle ground here.

Dibsy: As you said the International Community of the Red Cross is also extremely concerned about the situation and as you mentioned the longer the hunger strike goes on, the graver the consequences for the hunger strikers not only on their medical condition but also on the extreme suffering of their families.

Therefore all we can do for the moment is to continue our visits, continue the doctor visits to these people who are detained in the hospital of Ramallah prison, talking to them and explaining to the authorities the needs that I explained earlier and basically the fact that they need to be transferred.

Six of these detainees need to be urgently transferred to a facility that can provide adequate medical and nursing care.

In addition to that their families are in urgent need of seeing them. We are talking about basic humanitarian needs and we are urging the Israeli authorities to take our request into consideration.

AHK/PKH