Last Palestine Action hunger striker ends protest following organ failure
A Palestine Action-affiliated prisoner has halted a hunger and thirst strike after he was hospitalised with multiple organ failure following two days of refusing water.
Muhammad Umer Khalid, 22, agreed to pause his 17-day hunger strike and three-day thirst strike, which he launched to protest his treatment at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, where he is being held on remand.
Khalid, who has a rare genetic disorder, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, is now suffering from renal and liver failure, as well as low blood pressure and high creatine kinase levels, which the campaign group Prisoners for Palestine (PFP) said are all signs of imminent cardiac arrest in a statement.
Khalid is the last of eight prisoners linked to the now-banned direct action group who launched a hunger strike over their detention conditions and the group’s proscription. Some refused food for as long as 73 days.
On 14 January, the last three strikers announced they would end their food refusal after the government decided not to award a multi-billion-pound contract to the UK subsidiary of Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems.
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But Khalid, who has been held on remand on charges in connection with an alleged break-in by Palestine Action activists at RAF Brize Norton airbase in June last year, resumed his hunger strike after a pause on 10 January.
He escalated to a thirst strike on Saturday, demanding immediate bail and an end to alleged prison restrictions on his mail, calls and visits.
PFP confirmed that Khalid had met with the prison governor, Amy Frost, and had subsequently received withheld mail and clothes, as well as having restrictions on his visits removed.
“He’s agreed to the very slow, dangerous process of refeeding and he’s drinking again,” British-Palestinian filmmaker and supporter of the hunger strikers Saeed Taji Farouky told reporters at a press conference.
“He was successful in his hunger strike. Most of his demands were accepted.”
'A great deal of inhumanity'
PFP said in a statement that Khalid’s family were not alerted about his hospitalisation, nor were they given access to his medical records.
Middle East Eye previously reported that other hunger strikers were refused calls to their families from hospital.
“There is a lack of communication on behalf of the prison, especially whenever they've taken him to the hospital and what's going on,” Asim Qureshi, research director at Cage, who is in close contact with Khalid, told MEE.
“The only things that we really know come directly from Umer himself”.
“It's part of the problem that we have had with the entire process,” he added.
“That because the prison has chosen to treat Umer with a great deal of inhumanity…it’s been very hard to communicate and ensure that he’s got all the help he needs”.
MEE previously reported that the restrictions impacted Khalid’s communications with his lawyer, resulting in delays to legal proceedings.
The MOJ said in response to a request for comment: “We do not recognise these claims. All prisoners are subject to the same national rules on post and communications, and legal visits and access to legal paperwork are never withheld from prisoners.”
Khalid previously told MEE via an intermediary that “after witnessing the level to which the government allowed [the hunger strikers] to deteriorate, it’s clear that they do not value our lives, and our suffering does not affect them”.
'A period of heightened risk'
Speaking at a press conference, medical professionals and supporters of the hunger strikers emphasised that all of them remain at “heightened risk” despite having halted their food refusals.
The remaining hunger strikers who paused their hunger strikes earlier this month and in December last year are undergoing “refeeding” - a process by which nutrients are administered to restore body weight.
If not managed effectively, there is a risk of “refeeding syndrome”, meaning severe fluid and electrolyte shifts can have potentially life-threatening consequences.
MEE previously reported that the recovering hunger strikers had been “pre-emptively” discharged while presenting with multiple concerning symptoms.
Dr James Smith, an NHS doctor who supports the hunger strikers and their families, told reporters at the press conference that the prisoners are facing “a period of heightened risk”.
“We recognise that healthcare in the prison system is limited,” Smith said, noting that its capacities are limited to those of a general practice and have “very limited diagnostic tools or specialist capabilities”.
Smith reported that one of the hunger strikers, Kamran Ahmed, who was on hunger strike for over 73 days, is continuing to complain of symptoms related to his cardiac health after being discharged from hospital to Pentonville Prison, where he has no access to specialist care.
“He has the right to access the full range of health services that are available to anyone in the UK,” Smith emphasised.
He also noted that several former strikers who are undergoing refeeding have reported gastrointestinal symptoms, adding that one of them had complained of a "loss of sensation of one of their peripheries”, indicating potential nerve damage.
“These are exactly the sort of symptoms that require more comprehensive specialist follow-up, which to our understanding, hasn’t been made available as of this moment," Smith said.
More strikes ‘not off the table’
Farouky emphasised that the strikers’ decision to pause their food refusals does not signal the conclusion of the protest.
“The first six hunger strikers made it clear when they ended their hunger strike that it was a pause. I think they used the term pause very specifically,” Farouky said.
“That is to say, the option is still available to them as a form of resistance, as a form of expressing their self determination within prison. So it's not off the table, but whatever happens in the future will be led by the decisions of the prisoners themselves”.
Also addressing the press conference, Labour MP John McDonnell said that he was demanding the secretary of state for justice, David Lammy, conduct a “full inquiry” into the treatment of the hunger strikers.
“I do believe most people will find it unacceptable that they’re on remand for so long and the way that they’ve been treated within prison itself,” he said.
“And that includes, I have to say, access to health facilities when some of them have been, I believe, in a dangerous plight.”
MEE contacted the MOJ for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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