View source for Hunger strike

{{Short description|Form of protest or political activism}}
{{For|the song|Hunger Strike (song)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
[[File:Dobrzeń Wielki – protest głodowy i Grzegorz Schetyna.JPG|thumb|Residents of [[Dobrzeń Wielki]], Poland, in 2017, protesting the planned incorporation of their community to the city of [[Opole]]]]

A '''hunger strike''' is a method of [[non-violent resistance]] where participants [[fasting|fast]] as an act of political [[protest]], usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Engelbrecht |first=Cora |date=May 2, 2023 |title=Hunger Strikes Have Long Served as a Tool of Nonviolent Protest |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/world/hunger-strikes-explainer.html |access-date=January 29, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129045845/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/world/hunger-strikes-explainer.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hunger strike definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hunger-strike |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406133909/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hunger-strike |archive-date=April 6, 2015 |access-date=October 21, 2021 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |publisher=[[Collins English Dictionary]]}}</ref> Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are named '''dry hunger strikers'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foltynova |first=Kristyna |title=Anatomy Of A Hunger Strike: Why Is It Done And What Does It Do To The Human Body? |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/hunger-strikes-russia/31266830.html |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}}</ref>

In cases where an entity (usually the [[State (polity)|state]]) has or is able to obtain custody of the hunger striker (such as a [[prison]]er), the hunger strike is often terminated by the custodial entity through the use of [[force-feeding]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Charlie |date=October 11, 2017 |title=Military Is Waiting Longer Before Force-Feeding Hunger Strikers, Detainees Say |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/us/politics/guantanamo-hunger-strikes-force-feeding.html |access-date=January 29, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129015048/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/us/politics/guantanamo-hunger-strikes-force-feeding.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Early history==
Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian [[Ireland]], where it was known as ''Troscadh'' or ''Cealachan''.<ref>Ellis, Peter Bereford. The Druids (Eerdmans, 1998). pp. 141–142.</ref> Detailed in the contemporary [[Civil code|civic codes]], it had specific rules by which it could be used, and the fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender.<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Brehon Laws |volume=4 |page=490}}</ref> Scholars speculate that this was due to the high importance the culture placed on hospitality. Allowing a person to die at one's doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonor.<ref>Joyce, Patrick Weston, A Smaller Social History of ancient Ireland (Longman, Green & Co, 1906), Chapter IV: The Administration of Justice, p.86. Found online at https://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/I-IV-6.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224194835/https://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/I-IV-6.php |date=February 24, 2020 }}</ref> Others say that the practice was to fast for one whole night, as there is no evidence of people fasting to death in pre-Christian Ireland. The fasts were primarily undertaken to recover debts or get justice for a perceived wrong. Legends of [[Saint Patrick]], the patron saint of Ireland, have used the hunger strike as well.<ref name=Beresford>{{cite book|last=Beresford|first=David|title=Ten Men Dead|year=1987|publisher=Atlantic Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-87113-702-9}}{{page needed|date=November 2018}}</ref>

In [[India]], the practice of a hunger protest, where the protester fasts at the door of an offending party (typically a debtor) in a public call for justice, was abolished by the government in 1861; this indicates the prevalence of the practice prior to that date, or at least a public awareness of it.<ref name=Beresford/>

==Medical view==
In the first three days, the body still uses energy from [[glucose]].<ref name=Coffee>{{cite book|first1=C. J.|last1=Coffee|title=Quick Look: Metabolism|publisher=Hayes Barton Press|year=2004|page=169|isbn=978-1593771928}}</ref> After that, the [[liver]] starts processing [[body fat]], in a process called [[ketosis]]. After depleting fat, the body enters a "[[starvation]] mode".<ref name=Coffee /> At this point the body "mines" the muscles and vital organs for energy, and loss of [[bone marrow]] becomes life-threatening. There are examples of hunger strikers dying after 46 to 73 days of strike, for example the [[1981 Irish hunger strike]].<ref name=Beresford/> Hunger strikers can experience hallucinations<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Ian |title=Medical History |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref> and [[delirium]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Psychiatry in Prisons A Comprehensive Handbook |date=2018 |publisher=Jessica Kingsley |page=156}}</ref> Death usually occurs when a hunger striker has lost about 40–50% of their pre-strike weight at about 60–70 days in.<ref>Stevenson, R. J., & Prescott, J. (2014). Human diet and cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 5(4), 463–475.</ref> Obese individuals can last longer.<ref>Johnstone A. Fasting the ultimate diet. Obes Rev 2007,
8:211–222.</ref>

==Examples==
{{See also|List of hunger strikes}}
{{Globalize|section|date=January 2024}}
===British and American suffragettes===
[[File:Poster - Votes for Women - Man Prisoner Fed by Force, March 1911. (22896718036).jpg|thumb|A 1911 headline in ''[[Votes for Women (newspaper)|Votes for Women]]'' about [[William Ball (suffragist)|William Ball]] being force-fed in prison to end his hunger strike|alt=|224x224px]]
[[File:Djuna Barnes Clipping.jpg|thumb|Clipping from ''World Magazine'', September 6, 1914.]]
In the early 20th century [[Women's suffrage|suffragettes]] frequently endured hunger strikes in British prisons. [[Marion Wallace Dunlop|Marion Dunlop]] was the first in 1909. She was released, as the authorities did not want her to become a [[martyr]]. Other suffragettes in prison also undertook hunger strikes. The prison authorities subjected them to force-feeding, which the suffragettes categorized as a form of [[torture]]. [[Emmeline Pankhurst]]'s sister [[Mary Jane Clarke|Mary Clarke]] died shortly after being force-fed in prison, and others including [[Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton]] are believed to have had serious health problems caused by force feeding, dying of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] not long after.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Simon|title=Psychiatry in Prisons: A Comprehensive Handbook|url=https://archive.org/details/psychiatryprison00wils|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers|isbn=978-1843102236|author2=Ian Cumming|page=[https://archive.org/details/psychiatryprison00wils/page/n156 156]}}</ref> [[William Ball (suffragist)|William Ball]], a working class supporter of women's suffrage, was the subject of a pamphlet ''Torture in an English Prison'' not only due to the effects of force-feeding, but a cruel separation from family contact and mental health deterioration, secret transfer to a lunatic asylum and needed lifelong mental institutional care.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rise up, women! : the remarkable lives of the suffragettes|last=Atkinson|first=Diane|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2018|isbn=9781408844045|location=London|pages=289, 293|oclc=1016848621}}</ref> In December 1912, a Scottish prison put four suffragettes in the '[[political prisoner]]' category rather than 'criminal' second division, but staff at [[HM Prison Aberdeen|Craiginches Prison]], Aberdeen still subjected them to force-feeding when they went on hunger strike.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pedersen |first=Sarah |title=The Aberdeen Women's Suffrage Campaign |url=https://suffrageaberdeen.co.uk/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=suffrageaberdeen.co.uk |publisher=copyright WildFireOne |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318133553/https://suffrageaberdeen.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1913 the [[Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913]] (nicknamed the "Cat and Mouse Act") changed policy. Hunger strikes were tolerated but prisoners were released when they became sick. When they had recovered, the suffragettes were taken back to prison to finish their sentences. About 100 women received [[Hunger Strike Medal|medals]] for hunger striking or enduring force-feeding.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Like their British counterparts, American suffragettes also used this method of political protest. A few years before the passage of the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], a group of American suffragettes led by [[Alice Paul]] engaged in a hunger strike and endured forced feedings while incarcerated at the [[Occoquan Workhouse]] in Virginia.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===Ireland===
[[File:Remember the Hunger Strikers Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin.JPG|thumb|Irish Hunger Strikers Memorial Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin]]
Hunger strikes have deep roots in Irish society and in the Irish psyche. Fasting in order to bring attention to an injustice which one felt under his lord, and thus shame him, was a common feature of [[Brehon Laws|early Irish]] society and this tactic was fully incorporated into the [[Brehon]] legal system. The tradition is ultimately most likely part of the still older Indo-European tradition of which the Irish were part.<ref>[[D.A. Binchy]], "A Pre-Christian Survival in Mediaeval Irish Hagiography", in ''Ireland in Early Mediaeval Europe'' (Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 168–178</ref><ref>[[Rudolf Thurneysen]], "Das Fasten beim Pfändungsverfahren", ''Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie'' 15 (1924–25) 260–275.</ref> Within the 20th century a total of 22 Irish republicans died on hunger strike with survivors suffering long-term health and psychological effects.

The tactic was used by [[Physical force Irish republicanism|physical force republicans]] during the [[Irish revolutionary period|1916–23 revolutionary period]]. Early use of hunger strikes was countered with [[force-feeding]], culminating in 1917 in the death of [[Thomas Ashe]] in [[Mountjoy Prison]]. During the [[Anglo-Irish war]], in October 1920, the [[Lord Mayor]] of [[Cork (city)|Cork]], [[Terence MacSwiney]], died on hunger strike in [[Brixton prison]]. At the same time, the [[1920 Cork hunger strike]] took place. Two other Cork [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) men, [[Joe Murphy (Irish Republican)|Joe Murphy]] and [[Michael Fitzgerald (Irish Republican)|Michael Fitzgerald]], died in this protest. Demanding reinstatement of political status and release from prison, nine men undertook a hunger strike at [[Cork County Gaol]] for 94 days, from August 11 to November 12, 1920.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/11/13/109801275.pdf | work=The New York Times | title=END HUNGER STRIKE OF CORK PRISONERS; Sinn Féin Leader Absolves Them and They Take Food After 94 Days' Fast. AMBUSH FIVE JOURNALISTS Soldiers Kill Two and Capture Seven of the Attackers—Mrs. MacSwiney Coming Here | date=November 13, 1920 | access-date=June 14, 2018 | archive-date=February 25, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225134614/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/11/13/109801275.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>''Guinness Book of Records 1988'', p. 21</ref> [[Arthur Griffith]] called off the strikes after the deaths of MacSwiney, Murphy and Fitzgerald.

During the early 1920s, the vessel {{HMS|Argenta}} was used as a [[prison ship]] for the holding of [[Irish republican]]s by the British. Conditions on board were "unbelievable"<ref name="Kleinrichert, Denise 2000">{{cite book| last = Kleinrichert| first = Denise| title = Republican internment and the prison ship Argenta 1922| year = 2001| publisher = Irish Academic Press| isbn = 978-0-7165-2683-4 }}</ref> and there were several hunger strikes, including one involving upwards of 150 men in the winter of 1923.<ref>{{cite book| last = Hopkinson| first = Michael| title = The Irish War of Independence| year = 2004| publisher = M.H. Gill & Company U. C.| isbn = 978-0-7171-3741-1 }}</ref>

====Irish hunger strikes between 1923 and 1976====
{{See also| 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes}}
In February 1923, 23 women (members of Cumann na mBan) went on hunger strike for 34 days over the arrest and imprisonment without trial of Irish republican prisoners. The Free State subsequently released the women republican prisoners. Most of the male republicans were not released until the following year.<ref>McCarthy, Pat, (2015), ''The Irish Revolution, 1912–1923'', Four Courts Press, Dublin, p.132, ISBN 978-1-84682-410-4</ref> After the end of the [[Irish Civil War]] in October 1923, up to 8,000 [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|IRA]] prisoners went on hunger strike to protest their continued detention by the [[Irish Free State]] (a total of over 12,000 republicans had been interned by May 1923).<ref>The Forgotten Hunger Strikes". hungerstrikes.org.</ref> Three men, [[Denny Barry]], [[Joseph Whitty]], and [[Andy O'Sullivan (Irish Republican)|Andy O'Sullivan]], died during the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes. The strike, however, was called off by Republican leadership in the camps (November 23, 1923) before any more deaths occurred.

Under [[Éamon de Valera|de Valera]]'s [[Government of the 7th Dáil|first Fianna Fáil government]] in 1932, military pensions were awarded to dependants of republicans who died in 1920s hunger strikes on the same basis as those who were [[killed in action]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1932/act/24/section/5/enacted/en/html#sec5|title=Army Pensions Act, 1932, Section 5(2)|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=July 17, 2017|quote=the word "killed" includes ... death as an immediate result of refusing to take nourishment while detained in prison|archive-date=October 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031012544/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1932/act/24/section/5/enacted/en/html#sec5|url-status=live}}</ref> During [[The Emergency (Ireland)|the state of emergency]] of [[World War II]] [[Government of the 10th Dáil|another De Valera government]] interned many IRA members, three of whom died on hunger strike: [[Sean McCaughey]], [[Tony D'Arcy]] and [[Jack McNeela]]. Hundreds of others carried out shorter hunger strikes during the de Valera years.

The tactic was revived by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) in the early 1970s, when several republicans successfully used hunger strikes to get themselves released from custody without charge in the [[Republic of Ireland]]. [[Michael Gaughan (Irish republican)|Michael Gaughan]] died after being force-fed in [[Parkhurst Prison]] in 1974. [[Frank Stagg (Irish republican)|Frank Stagg]], an IRA member being held in [[Wakefield Prison]], died in 1976 after a 62-day hunger strike which he began as a campaign to be [[repatriate]]d to Ireland.<ref>{{cite book | last = White | first = Robert | title = Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary | publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0253347084 | pages = 246–247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = O'Donnell | first = Ruán | title = Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons Vol.1: 1968–78 | publisher = [[Irish Academic Press]] | year = 2012 | isbn = 978-0-7165-3142-5 | page = 364 }}</ref>

Members of other movements like [[Holger Meins]] of German [[Red Army Faction|Red Army Fraction]] used hunger strikes as a political weapon at this time. Meins went on hunger strike for the first time in 1973 together with other prisoners in protest against the prison conditions. The RAF prisoners wanted to be pooled together and claimed prisoner of war status.  The 1.83m tall Meins still weighed 39 kg in November 1973 and died in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sontheimer |first=Michael |date=2007-11-08 |title=RAF |url=https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/raf-a-948828.html |access-date=2024-06-03 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>

====Irish hunger strike of 1981====
{{Main|1981 Irish hunger strike}}
{{See also|Anti H-Block|HM Prison Maze}}
In 1980, seven Irish Republican prisoners, six from the IRA and one from the [[Irish National Liberation Army]], in the [[Maze Prison]] launched a hunger strike as a protest against the revocation by the [[British Government]] of a [[prisoner of war|prisoner-of-war]]-like [[Special Category Status]] for [[paramilitary]] prisoners in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{cite book | last = White | first = Robert | title = Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement | publisher = Merrion Press | year = 2017 | page = 173 | isbn = 9781785370939}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Dillon | first = Martin | author-link = Martin Dillon | title = The Dirty War | publisher = [[Arrow Books]] | year = 1991 | page = 288 | isbn = 978-0-09-984520-1}}</ref> The strike, led by [[Brendan Hughes]], was called off before any deaths, when the British government seemed to offer to concede their demands; however, the British Government then reneged on the details of the agreement. The prisoners then called another hunger strike the following year. This time, instead of many prisoners striking at the same time, the hunger strikers started fasting one after the other in order to maximise publicity over the fate of each one.<ref>{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (Journalist) | title = Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin | publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-7475-3818-2 | page = 237}}</ref>

[[Bobby Sands]] was the first of ten Irish republican [[paramilitary]] prisoners to die after 66 days during the 1981 hunger strike, with [[Michael_Devine_(hunger_striker)|Mickey Devine]] being the last to die after 60 days. There was widespread sympathy for the hunger strikers from Irish republicans and the broader [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] community on both sides of the [[Irish border]]. Sands was elected as an MP for [[Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)|Fermanagh and South Tyrone]] to the United Kingdom's [[House of Commons]] and two other prisoners, [[Paddy Agnew (Irish republican)|Paddy Agnew]] (who was not a hunger striker) and [[Kieran Doherty (hunger striker)|Kieran Doherty]], were elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] in the [[Republic of Ireland]] by electorates who wished to register their opposition to the British Government's policy. The ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.morrigan.net/starryplough/apr2005/apr2005.pdf |title=The Starry Plough on 1981 Irish hunger strikes |access-date=June 22, 2006 |archive-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224042207/http://www.morrigan.net/starryplough/apr2005/apr2005.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> taking only water and salt, before succumbing. After the deaths of the men and severe public disorder, the British Government granted partial concessions to the prisoners, and the strike was called off. The hunger strikes gave a significant [[propaganda]] boost to a previously severely demoralised IRA.

===Gandhi and Bhagat Singh===
[[File:Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi in 1924.jpg|alt=Mahatma Gandhi with a young Indira Gandhi, during his fast in 1924, (remastered)|thumb|Mahatma Gandhi with a young [[Indira Gandhi]], during his fast in 1924, (remastered)]]
{{see also|List of fasts undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi|Indian independence movement}}

[[Mahatma Gandhi]] was imprisoned in 1908, 1909, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1930, 1932, 1933, and 1942.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Years of Arrests & Imprisonments of Mahatma Gandhi |url=https://www.mkgandhi.org/chrono/arrestofmahatma.php |access-date=September 19, 2022 |website=Chronology of Mahatma Gandhi |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163859/https://www.mkgandhi.org/chrono/arrestofmahatma.php |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of Gandhi's stature around the world, British authorities were loath to allow him to die in their custody; Gandhi engaged in several famous hunger strikes to protest [[British Raj|British rule in India]].{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In addition to Gandhi, various others used the hunger strike option during the Indian independence movement, including [[Jatin Das]], who fasted to death, and [[Bhagat Singh]] and [[Batukeshwar Dutt]] in 1929.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bhagat Singh: Latest News, Videos and Photos of Bhagat Singh |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/bhagat-singh |access-date=November 3, 2023 |website=The Times of India |language=en |archive-date=November 3, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103111954/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/bhagat-singh |url-status=live}}</ref>{{verify source| reason = confirm the source includes both Bhagat Singh and Jatin Das |date=May 2025}}

===Potti Sriramulu===
In 1952, in independent India, revolutionary [[Potti Sriramulu]] undertook a hunger strike for 56 days in an attempt to achieve the formation of a separate state, to be known as [[Andhra State]]. His death on December 15 became instrumental in the [[States Reorganisation Commission|linguistic re-organisation of states]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Mary |first=S. B. Vijaya |date=December 13, 2022 |title=Actor Saichand pays tribute to Potti Sriramulu on his 70th death anniversary |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/the-actor-is-set-to-undertake-a-300-km-padayatra-from-sriramulus-memorial-in-chennai-to-his-native-village-in-prakasam-district-in-ap-on-december-15/article66257601.ece |access-date=November 3, 2023 |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103113702/https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/the-actor-is-set-to-undertake-a-300-km-padayatra-from-sriramulus-memorial-in-chennai-to-his-native-village-in-prakasam-district-in-ap-on-december-15/article66257601.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>

He is revered as ''Amarajeevi'' (Immortal being) in Coastal Andra for his role in achieving the linguistic re-organisation of states. As a devout follower of [[Mahatma Gandhi]], he worked for much of his life to uphold principles such as truth, non-violence and patriotism, as well as causes such as [[Harijan]] movement to end the traditional alienation of, and accord respect and humane treatment to those traditionally called "[[untouchability|untouchables]]" in Indian society.<ref name=":0" />

===Cuban dissidents===
{{See also|Human rights in Cuba|Censorship in Cuba|Political career of Fidel Castro|category=}}

On April 3, 1972, [[Pedro Luis Boitel]], an imprisoned poet and dissident, declared himself on hunger strike. After 53 days on hunger strike, receiving only liquids, he died of starvation on May 25, 1972. His last days were related by his close friend, poet [[Armando Valladares]]. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the [[Colon Cemetery, Havana|Cólon Cemetery]] in [[Havana]]. {{citation needed | date = February 2024}}

[[Guillermo Fariñas]] did a seven-month hunger strike to protest against the extensive [[Censorship in Cuba|Internet censorship in Cuba]]. He ended it in Autumn 2006, with severe health problems although still conscious.<ref name="RWB">{{cite web |url=https://rsf.org/en/news/guillermo-farinas-ends-seven-month-old-hunger-strike-internet-access |title=Guillermo Fariñas ends seven-month-old hunger strike for Internet access |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=January 20, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120221112/https://rsf.org/en/news/guillermo-farinas-ends-seven-month-old-hunger-strike-internet-access |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Reporters Without Borders]] awarded its cyber-freedom prize to Guillermo Fariñas in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rsf.org/en/news/cyber-freedom-prize-2006-awarded-guillermo-farinas-cuba |title=Cyber-freedom prize for 2006 awarded to Guillermo Fariñas of Cuba |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=January 20, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120221242/https://rsf.org/en/news/cyber-freedom-prize-2006-awarded-guillermo-farinas-cuba |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Jorge Luis García Pérez]] (known as Antúnez) has done hunger strikes. In 2009, following the end of his 17-year imprisonment, Antúnez, his wife Iris, and Diosiris Santana Pérez started a hunger strike to support other political prisoners. Leaders from Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina declared their support for Antúnez.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.directorio.org/pressreleases/note.php?note_id=2389 |title=Additional Latin American Leaders Join in Solidarity with Antúnez |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027130847/http://www.directorio.org/pressreleases/note.php?note_id=2389 |archive-date=October 27, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.directorio.org/pressreleases/note.php?note_id=2357 |title=Young Uruguayans Support Antúnez, Cuban Political Prisoners |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027130843/http://www.directorio.org/pressreleases/note.php?note_id=2357 |archive-date=October 27, 2012 }}</ref>

On February 23, 2010, [[Orlando Zapata]], a dissident arrested in 2003 as part of a crackdown on opposition groups, died in a hospital while undertaking a hunger strike that had been ongoing for 85 days. His hunger strike was a protest against poor prison conditions. Amnesty International had declared him a prisoner of conscience.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8533350.stm|title=Cuban prison hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo dies|work=BBC News|date=February 24, 2010|access-date=February 24, 2010|archive-date=November 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114220653/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8533350.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Mongolian Democracy Movement ===
During pro-democracy demonstrations in 1990 youth activists carried out a hunger strike in Ulan Bator's central Sukhbaatar Square from March 7 onwards. The public nature of the action plus the fact it was held in freezing conditions gained much public attention and place pressure upon the government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=350.org |last2=Hunter |first2=Daniel |date=2024-04-17 |title=Authoritarianism to Democracy: The Story of Mongolia |url=https://commonslibrary.org/authoritarianism-to-democracy-the-story-of-mongolia/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>

=== Hazara Refugees ===
Rather than process their claims within its own country, from 2001 to 2008 the Australian federal government moved and detained up to 1200 refugees at a time on Nauru. The majority of these were Hazara people, who faced persecution in Afghanistan. Beginning on 10 December 10, 2003 detainees began a hunger strike, which within a fortnight came to involve forty people. Timed to coincide with World Human Rights Day the protest brought much international attention to the plight of the refugees and their demand to be resettled, despite the Australian government initially refusing to acknowledge or comment on the matter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Hanna |date=2021-09-30 |title=Hazara asylum seekers hunger strike on Nauru, 2003-2004 |url=https://commonslibrary.org/hazara-asylum-seekers-hunger-strike-on-nauru-2003-2004/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==Legal situation==
Article 8 of the 1975 [[World Medical Association]] [[Declaration of Tokyo]] states that doctors are not allowed to force-feed hunger strikers. They are supposed to understand the prisoner's independent wishes, and it is recommended to have a second opinion as to the capability of the prisoner to understand the implication of their decision and be capable of informed consent.

:Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgement concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, they shall not be fed artificially. The decision as to the capacity of the prisoner to form such a judgement should be confirmed by at least one other independent physician. The consequences of the refusal of nourishment shall be explained by the physician to the prisoner.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-tokyo-guidelines-for-physicians-concerning-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading-treatment-or-punishment-in-relation-to-detention-and-imprisonment/ | title=WMA – the World Medical Association – WMA DECLARATION OF TOKYO – GUIDELINES FOR PHYSICIANS CONCERNING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT IN RELATION TO DETENTION AND IMPRISONMENT | access-date=January 28, 2020 | archive-date=January 17, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117195626/https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-tokyo-guidelines-for-physicians-concerning-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading-treatment-or-punishment-in-relation-to-detention-and-imprisonment/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

The World Medical Association (WMA) revised and updated its Declaration of Malta on Hunger Strikers in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-malta-on-hunger-strikers/ | title=WMA – the World Medical Association-WMA Declaration of Malta on Hunger Strikers | access-date=August 29, 2017 | archive-date=August 29, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829162730/https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-malta-on-hunger-strikers/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Among many changes, it unambiguously states that force feeding is a form of inhumane and degrading treatment in its Article 21.

The [[American Medical Association]] (AMA) is a member of the WMA, but the AMA's members are not bound by the WMA's decisions, as neither organization has formal legal powers. The AMA has formally endorsed the WMA Declaration of Tokyo and has written several letters to the US government and made public statements in opposition to US physician involvement in force feeding of hunger strikers in contravention of medical ethics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/04/30/1940121/ama-force-feeding-gitmo|title=American Medical Association Opposes Force-Feeding Prisoners On Hunger Strike At Gitmo|website=[[ThinkProgress]]|access-date=October 2, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072527/http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/04/30/1940121/ama-force-feeding-gitmo/|url-status=live}}</ref> The United States [[Code of Federal Regulations]] rule on hunger strikes by prisoners states, "It is the responsibility of the Bureau of Prisons to monitor the health and welfare of individual inmates, and to ensure that procedures are pursued to preserve life." It further provides that when "a medical necessity for immediate treatment of a life or health threatening situation exists, the physician may order that treatment be administered without the consent of the inmate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=6d4a56492db450206fc427b40751ae2a&rgn=div6&view=text&node=28:2.0.3.3.21.5&idno=28 |title=Title 28: Judicial Administration |publisher=Electronic Code of Federal Regulations |access-date=September 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612141625/http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=6d4a56492db450206fc427b40751ae2a&rgn=div6&view=text&node=28%3A2.0.3.3.21.5&idno=28 |archive-date=June 12, 2011 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of hunger strikes]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150404232634/http://www.globallawyersandphysicians.org/storage/JAMA%20Hunger%20Strikes.pdf "Hunger Strikes, Force-feeding, and Physicians' Responsibilities"]
* [http://www.preventgenocide.org/action/during/fasting/ Fasting as a Method To Demand International Protection For the People of Darfur, Sudan]
* [http://righttohealthifhhro.pbworks.com/w/page/78933383/Hunger%20Strikes%20Resources Bibliography on hunger strikes and force-feeding in the IFHHRO Right to Health Wiki]
* [https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/the-long-history-of-the-irish-hunger-strike-1.3228103 "The long history of the Irish hunger strike: New exhibition in Kilmainham Gaol tells the story from Thomas Ashe to Bobby Sands" Irish Times 2017-09-21]

{{Organized labor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunger Strike}}
[[Category:Hunger strikes| ]]
[[Category:Civil disobedience]]
[[Category:Protest tactics]]
[[Category:Strikes (protest)]]
[[Category:Fasting]]