3 Union of Turkish Bar Associations Review 2022 Süleyman ÖZAR It is natural that hunger strike occurs mostly in the prisons. The aim of the prisoners involving in this modern way of protest, which is an inherent consequence of the major confinement/imprisonment understanding of the modern era, is to make themselves heard outside and to attract attention. The extent to which a hunger strike attracts public attention is dependent directly on the extent to which human life is regarded as a supra-political value in the relevant society. I- HUNGER STRIKE 1. Definition and Scope Hunger strike is a prolonged refusal to receive nourishment, engaged in by individuals so as to protest a certain event or ensure the fulfilment of their certain demands. As set forth in the World Medical Assembly’s Declaration of Malta, hunger strike is a way of protest adopted by persons who have no other opportunity to voice their demands. Hunger striker is the person who voluntarily refuses to eat for a considerable period of time in order to attain his aims by putting public pressure on the administration and who is eligible to form a judgment regarding his health.1 In Türkiye, the stage when hunger strike reaches an irreversible phase is called as “death fast”2, which is also the notion used in Law 1 The Declaration of Malta on Hunger Strikers adopted by the 43rd World Medical Assembly held in Malta in 1991 (“Malta Declaration”): https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-malta-on-hunger- strikers/ (date of last pageview: 09.04.2021) 2 As regards the criticism that death fast is an improper notion and used in this way only in the Turkish legislation across the world and a proposal for a more proper notion, “hunger strike to die”, see Ahmet Taşkın “Ceza ve Güvenlik Tedbirlerinin İnfazı Hakkında Kanun’da Beslenmenin Reddi (Refusal to eat under the Law on the Execution of Penalties and Security Measures)”, Türkiye Barolar Birliği Dergisi, Issue: 62, 2006, p. 239. We are of the opinion that the problem with respect to the “death fast” is not the notion fast but the death. The fact that fast is a religious term does not preclude its being used in other situations where a person refuses to eat. In the Anglo-Saxon literature where the notion hunger strike arose, this notion means the refusal to eat enough to sustain life, whereas the acts where the striker abstains completely from food and fluid intakes or accepts to drink only water are defined as “total fasting” (for an example and definition, see World Health Organisation “Health in Prisons” https:// www.euro. who.int/ data/assets/pdf_file/0009/99018/E90174.pdf). As could be inferred therefrom, death should not be used so as to refer to any type of strike. That is
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