A flag commemorating the 25th anniversary of the hunger strike

The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out", the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.^[1]

The second hunger strike took place in 1981 and was a showdown between the prisoners and the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. One hunger striker, Bobby Sands, was elected as a Member of Parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world.^[2] The strike was called off after ten prisoners had starved themselves to death—including Sands, whose funeral was attended by 100,000 people.^[1] The strike radicalised nationalist politics, and was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party.^[3]

Background[link]

There had been hunger strikes by Irish republican prisoners since 1917, and twelve men had previously died on hunger strikes including Thomas Ashe, Terence MacSwiney, Seán McCaughey, Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg.^[4] After the introduction of internment in 1971, Long Kesh—later known as HM Prison Maze—was run like a prisoner of war camp. Internees lived in dormitories and disciplined themselves with military-style command structures, drilled with dummy guns made from wood, and held lectures on guerrilla warfare and revolutionary politics.^[5] Convicted prisoners were refused the same rights as internees until July 1972, when Special Category Status was introduced following a hunger strike by 40 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners led by the veteran republican Billy McKee. Special Category, or political, status meant prisoners were treated similarly to prisoners of war; for example, not having to wear prison uniforms or do prison work.^[5] In 1976, as part of the policy of "criminalisation", the British Government brought an end to Special Category Status for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland. The policy was not introduced for existing prisoners, but for those convicted of offences after 1 March 1976.^[6] The end to Special Category Status was a serious threat to the authority which the paramilitary leaderships inside prison had been able to exercise over their own men, as well as being a propaganda blow.^[5]

Blanket and dirty protests[link]

On 14 September 1976, newly convicted prisoner Kieran Nugent began the blanket protest, in which IRA and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and either went naked or fashioned garments from prison blankets.^[6] In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.^[7] These protests aimed to re-establish their political status by securing what were known as the "Five Demands":

1. The right not to wear a prison uniform;
2. The right not to do prison work;
3. The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
4. The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
5. Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.^[8]

Initially, this protest did not attract a great deal of attention, and even the IRA regarded it as a side-issue compared to their armed campaign.^[9][10] It began to attract attention when Tomás Ó Fiaich, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, visited the prison and condemned the conditions there.^[11] In 1979, former MP Bernadette McAliskey stood in the election for the European Parliament on a platform of support for the protesting prisoners, and won 5.9% of the vote across Northern Ireland, even though Sinn Féin had called for a boycott of this election.^[12][13] Shortly after this, the broad-based National H-Block/Armagh Committee was formed, on a platform of support for the "Five Demands", with McAliskey as its main spokesperson.^[14][15] The period leading up to the hunger strike saw assassinations by both republicans and loyalists. The IRA shot and killed a number of prison officers;^[9][16] while loyalist paramilitaries shot and killed a number of activists in the National H-Block/Armagh Committee and badly injured McAliskey and her husband in an attempt on their lives.^[17][18]

First hunger strike[link]

On 27 October 1980, republican prisoners in HM Prison Maze began a hunger strike. Many prisoners volunteered to be part of the strike, but a total of seven were selected to match the number of men who signed the Easter 1916 Proclamation of the Republic. The group consisted of IRA members Brendan Hughes, Tommy McKearney, Raymond McCartney, Tom McFeeley, Sean McKenna, Leo Green, and INLA member John Nixon.^[19] On 1 December three prisoners in Armagh Women's Prison joined the strike, including Mairéad Farrell, followed by a short-lived hunger strike by several dozen more prisoners in HM Prison Maze. In a war of nerves between the IRA leadership and the British government, with McKenna lapsing in and out of a coma and on the brink of death, the government appeared to concede the essence of the prisoners' five demands with a thirty-page document detailing a proposed settlement. With the document in transit to Belfast, Hughes took the decision to save McKenna's life and end the strike after 53 days on 18 December.^[8]

Second hunger strike[link]

A hunger strike memorial in Milltown Cemetery, Belfast.

In January 1981 it became clear that the prisoners' demands had not been conceded. Prison authorities began to supply the prisoners with officially issued civilian clothing, whereas the prisoners demanded the right to wear their own clothing. On 4 February the prisoners issued a statement saying that the British government had failed to resolve the crisis and declared their intention of "hunger striking once more".^[20] The second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands, the IRA's former Officer Commanding (OC) in the prison, refused food. Unlike the first strike, the prisoners joined one at a time and at staggered intervals, which they believed would arouse maximum public support and exert maximum pressure on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.^[21]

The republican movement initially struggled to generate public support for the second hunger strike. The Sunday before Sands began his strike, 3,500 people marched through west Belfast; during the first hunger strike four months earlier the marchers had numbered 10,000.^[22] Five days into the strike, however, Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Frank Maguire died, resulting in a by-election. There was debate among nationalists and republicans regarding who should contest the election: Austin Currie of the Social Democratic and Labour Party expressed an interest, as did Bernadette McAliskey and Maguire's brother Noel.^[1] After negotiations, and implied threats to Noel Maguire, they agreed not to split the nationalist vote by contesting the election and Sands stood as an Anti H-Block candidate against Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West.^[22][23] Following a high-profile campaign the election took place on 9 April, and Sands was elected to the British House of Commons with 30,492 votes to West's 29,046.^[24]

Sands' election victory raised hopes that a settlement could be negotiated, but Thatcher stood firm in refusing to give concessions to the hunger strikers. She stated "We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime, it is not political".^[25] The world's media descended on Belfast, and several intermediaries visited Sands in an attempt to negotiate an end to the hunger strike, including Síle de Valera, granddaughter of Éamon de Valera, Pope John Paul II's personal envoy John Magee, and European Commission of Human Rights officials.^[2][26] With Sands close to death, the government's position remained unchanged, with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Humphrey Atkins stating "If Mr. Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The Government would not force medical treatment upon him".^[26]

On 5 May, Sands died in the prison hospital on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike, prompting rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland.^[1] Humphrey Atkins issued a statement saying that Sands had committed suicide "under the instructions of those who felt it useful to their cause that he should die".^[27] Over 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral, which was conducted with full IRA military honours. Margaret Thatcher showed no regret for his death, telling the House of Commons that, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".^[26]

In the two weeks following Sands' death, three more hunger strikers died. Francis Hughes died on 12 May, resulting in further rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland, in particular Derry and Belfast. Following the deaths of Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara on 21 May, Tomás Ó Fiaich, by then Primate of All Ireland, criticised the British government's handling of the hunger strike.^[1] Despite this, Thatcher still refused to negotiate a settlement, stating "Faced with the failure of their discredited cause, the men of violence have chosen in recent months to play what may well be their last card", during a visit to Belfast in late May.^[27]

Nine protesting prisoners contested the general election in the Republic of Ireland in June. Kieran Doherty and Paddy Agnew (who was not on hunger strike) were elected in Cavan–Monaghan and Louth respectively, and Joe McDonnell narrowly missed election in Sligo–Leitrim.^[28][29] There were also local elections in Northern Ireland around that time and although Sinn Féin did not contest them, some smaller groups and independents who supported the hunger strikers won seats, e.g. the Irish Independence Party won 21 seats, while the Irish Republican Socialist Party (the INLA's political wing) and People's Democracy (a Trotskyist group) won two seats each, and a number of pro-hunger strike independent candidates also won seats.^[30][31] The British government rushed through the Representation of the People Act 1981 to prevent another prisoner contesting the second by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, which was due to take place following the death of Sands.^[1]

A memorial to hunger striker Kieran Doherty.

Following the deaths of Joe McDonnell and Martin Hurson the families of some of the hunger strikers attended a meeting on 28 July with Catholic priest Father Denis Faul. The families expressed concern at the lack of a settlement to the priest, and a decision was made to meet with Gerry Adams later that day. At the meeting Father Faul put pressure on Adams to find a way of ending the strike, and Adams agreed to ask the IRA leadership to order the men to end the hunger strike.^[32] The following day Adams held a meeting with six of the hunger strikers to outline a proposed settlement on offer from the British government should the strike be brought to an end.^[33] The strikers rejected the settlement, believing that accepting anything less than the "Five Demands" would be a betrayal of the sacrifice made by Bobby Sands and the other men who had died.^[34]

On 31 July the hunger strike began to break, when the mother of Paddy Quinn insisted on medical intervention to save his life. The following day Kevin Lynch died, followed by Kieran Doherty on 2 August, Thomas McElwee on 8 August and Michael Devine on 20 August.^[35] On the day Devine died, Sands' election agent Owen Carron won the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election with an increased number of votes.^[36] On 6 September the family of Laurence McKeown became the fourth family to intervene and asked for medical treatment to save his life, and Cahal Daly issued a statement calling on republican prisoners to end the hunger strike. A week later James Prior replaced Humphrey Atkins as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and met with prisoners in an attempt to end the strike.^[1] Liam McCloskey ended his strike on 26 September after his family said they would ask for medical intervention if he became unconscious, and it became clear that the families of the remaining hunger strikers would also intervene to save their lives. The strike was called off at 3:15 pm on 3 October,^[37] and three days later Prior announced partial concessions to the prisoners including the right to wear their own clothes at all times.^[3] The only one of the "Five Demands" still outstanding was the right not to do prison work. Following sabotage by the prisoners and the Maze Prison escape in 1983 the prison workshops were closed, effectively granting all of the "Five Demands" but without any formal recognition of political status from the government.^[38]

Participants who died on hunger strike[link]

Over the summer of 1981, ten hunger strikers had died. Their names, paramilitary affiliation, dates of death, and length of hunger strike are as follows:

The original pathologist's report recorded the hunger strikers' cause of death as "self-imposed starvation". This was later amended to simply "starvation", after protests from the dead strikers' families. The coroner recorded verdicts of "starvation, self-imposed".^[39]

Other participants in the hunger strike[link]

Although ten men died during the course of the hunger strike, thirteen others began refusing food but were taken off hunger strike, either due to medical reasons or after intervention by their families. Many of them still suffer from the effects of the strike, with problems including digestive, visual, physical and neurological disabilities.^[40][41]

Consequences[link]

A hunger strike memorial in Derry's Bogside on Free Derry Corner.

The British press hailed the hunger strike as a triumph for Thatcher, with The Guardian newspaper stating "The Government had overcome the hunger strikes by a show of resolute determination not to be bullied".^[42] However, the hunger strike was a Pyrrhic victory for Thatcher and the British government.^[43] Thatcher became a republican hate figure of Cromwellian proportions, with Danny Morrison describing her as "the biggest bastard we have ever known".^[43] There was extensive international condemnation of the British government's handling of the hunger strike, and the relationship between the British and Irish governments was strained.^[2] As with internment in 1971 and Bloody Sunday in 1972, IRA recruitment was boosted, resulting in a new surge of paramilitary activity.^[43] There was an upsurge of violence after the comparatively quiet years of the late 1970s, with widespread civil disorder in Northern Ireland and rioting outside the British Embassy in Dublin.^[1] Security forces fired 29,695 plastic bullets in 1981, causing seven deaths, compared to a total of around 16,000 bullets and four deaths in the eight years following the hunger strikes.^[44] The IRA continued its armed campaign during the seven months of the strike, killing thirteen policemen, eight soldiers, five members of the Ulster Defence Regiment and five civilians. The seven months were one of the bloodiest periods of the Troubles with a total of 61 people killed, 34 of them civilians.^[21] Three years later the IRA tried to take their revenge on Thatcher with the Brighton hotel bombing, an attack on the Conservative party conference that killed five people and in which Thatcher herself only narrowly escaped death.^[2]

The hunger strike prompted Sinn Féin to move towards electoral politics—Sands' election victory combined with that of pro-hunger strike candidates in the Northern Ireland local elections and Dáil elections in the Republic of Ireland gave birth to the armalite and ballot box strategy, with Gerry Adams remarking "His [Sands] victory exposed the lie that the hunger strikers—and by extension the IRA and the whole republican movement—had no popular support".^[45] The election victories of Doherty and Agnew also had political impact in the Republic of Ireland, as they denied power to Charles Haughey's outgoing Fianna Fáil government.^[28] In 1982 Sinn Féin won five seats in the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and in 1983 Gerry Adams won a seat in the UK general election.^[46] As a result of the political base built during the hunger strike, Sinn Féin continued to grow in the following two decades, and it is currently the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland holding 29 out of 108 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.^[3][47]

In 2005, the role of Gerry Adams was questioned by former prisoner Richard O'Rawe, who was the public relations officer inside the prison during the strike. O'Rawe states in his book Blanketmen that Adams prolonged the strike as it was of great political benefit to Sinn Féin and allowed Owen Carron to win Sands' seat.^[48][49] This claim is denied by several hunger strikers and Brendan McFarlane, who was OC inside the prison during the hunger strike.^[50] McFarlane claims O'Rawe's version of events is confused and fragmentary, and states "We were desperate for a solution. Any deal that went some way to meeting the five demands would have been taken. If it was confirmed in writing, we'd have grabbed it . . . There was never a deal, there was never a "take it or leave it" option at all".^[51]

Commemorations[link]

There are memorials and murals in memory of the hunger strikers in towns and cities across Ireland, including Belfast, Dublin, Derry, Crossmaglen and Camlough.^[52] Annual commemorations take place across Ireland for each man who died on the hunger strike, and an annual hunger strike commemoration march is held in Belfast each year, which includes a Bobby Sands memorial lecture.^[53][54] Several towns and cities in France have named streets after Bobby Sands, including Paris and Le Mans.^[2][55] The Iranian government also named a street running alongside the British embassy in Tehran after Bobby Sands, which was formerly called Winston Churchill Street.^[56]

A memorial to the men who died in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Easter Rising and the hunger strike stands in Waverley Cemetery, Sydney, Australia, which is also the burial place of Michael Dwyer of the Society of United Irishmen.^[57][58] In 1997 the people of Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States dedicated a monument to Bobby Sands and the other hunger strikers.^[59] The monument stands in a traffic circle known as "Bobby Sands Circle", at the bottom of Maple Avenue near Goodwin Park.^[60] On 20 March 2001 Sinn Féin's national chairperson Mitchel McLaughlin opened the National Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee's exhibition at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, which included three original works of art from Belfast-based artists.^[61] A separate exhibition was also launched in Derry the following month.^[62] Three films have been made based on the events of the hunger strike, Some Mother's Son starring Helen Mirren, H3 (which was co-written by former hunger striker Laurence McKeown), and Steve McQueen's Hunger.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bobby Sands Trust
• Irish Hunger strike Commemorative Project
• Hunger Strikers Memorial, Hartford, CT, USA
• Chicago Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee

v t e Margaret Thatcher Member of Parliament Finchley · Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 · Shadow Cabinet Ideology Thatcherism  · Conservatism Premiership Thatcher Ministry · Cold War · 1981 Irish hunger strike · The lady's not for turning · Falklands War · Brighton hotel bombing · Opposition to trade unions · Miners' strike · Local Government Act · Westland affair · Sermon on the Mound · Community Charge · Gulf War · Resignation Honours Party elections 1975 · 1989 · 1990 General elections 1979 · 1983 · 1987 Family Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Bt (husband) · The Hon. Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Bt (son) · The Hon. Carol Thatcher (daughter) · Alfred Roberts (father) Cultural depictions Thatcher: The Final Days · The Falklands Play · Pinochet in Suburbia · The Long Walk to Finchley · Margaret · The Iron Lady · The Hunt for Tony Blair · Steve Nallon · Janet Brown Book · Category ·  Commons

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (May 2012)

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not solid food.

In cases where an entity (usually the state) has or is able to obtain custody of the hunger striker (such as a prisoner), the hunger strike is often terminated by the custodial entity through the use of force-feeding.

Early history[link]

Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, where it was known as Troscadh or Cealachan. It was detailed in the contemporary civic codes, and had specific rules by which it could be used. The fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender. Scholars speculate 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. 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. There are legends of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, using the hunger strike as well.^[1]

In India, the practice of a hunger protest, where the protestor 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.^[2] This Indian practice is ancient, going back to around 400 to 750 BC. This can be known since it appears in the Valmiki Ramayana, which was composed around that time. The actual mention appears in the Ayodhya Kanda, (the second book of the Ramayana), in Sarga (section) 103. Bharata has gone to ask the exiled Rama to come back and rule the kingdom. Bharata tries many arguments, none of which work, at which point he decides to do a hunger strike. He announces his intention to fast, calls for his charioteer Sumantra to bring him some sacred Kusha grass, (but Sumantra won't do it since he's too busy looking at Rama's face, so Bharata has to get the grass himself), lies down upon it in front of Rama. Rama, however, is quickly able to persuade him to abandon the attempt. Rama mentions it as a practice of the brahmanas.

Medical view[link]

In the first 3 days, the body is still using energy from glucose.^{[citation needed]} After that, the liver starts processing body fat, in a process called ketosis. After 3 weeks the body enters a "starvation mode". 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 52 to 74 days of strike.^[3]

Notable historical instances[link]

This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since October 2011. It may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. Tagged since October 2011.

Gandhi & Bhagat Singh[link]

Mohandas Gandhi was imprisoned in 1922, 1930, 1933 and 1942. Because of Gandhi's stature around the world, British authorities were loath to allow him to die in their custody. It is likely Britain's reputation would have suffered as a result of such an event. Gandhi engaged in several famous hunger strikes to protest British rule of India. Fasting was a non-violent way of communicating the message and sometimes dramatically achieve the reason for the protest. This was keeping with the rules of Satyagraha.

In addition to Gandhi, various others have used the hunger strike option during the Indian independence movement. Such figures include Jatin Das (who fasted to death) and Bhagat Singh 116th day of their fast, on October 5, 1929 that Bhagat Singh and Dutt gave up their strike (surpassing the 97 day world record for hunger strikes which was set by an Irish revolutionary). During this hunger strike that lasted 116 days and ended with the British succumbing to his wishes, he gained much popularity among the common Indians. Before the strike his popularity was limited mainly to the Punjab region.

After Indian Independence, freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu used hunger strikes to get a separate state for Telugu-speaking people. Morarji Desai went on fast twice during NAVNIRMAN in the seventies and prior to that Indulal Yagnik alias Indu Chacha went on a long fast during Maha Gujarat and thereafter in the seventies.

Jatin Das[link]

Jatin Das was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary who died after a continuous hunger strike for 63 days in 1929 and it shocked the whole of British India.

The memorable hunger strike started on 13 July 1929 and lasted 63 days.^[4] The jail authority took many measures to forcibly feed Jatin Das and the other freedom fighters, beat them and did not even provide them with drinking water.^[5] However, Jatindra did not eat. The jail committee recommended his unconditional release, but the government rejected the suggestion and offered to release him on bail. Jatin died on September 13, 1929, his hunger strike unbroken for 63 days.^[6] As his body was carried from Lahore to Kolkata by train, thousands of people rushed to every station to pay their homage to the martyr. A two-mile long procession in Kolkata carried the coffin to the cremation ground.^[7] The hunger strike of Jatin Das in prison was one crucial moment in the resistance against illegal detentions.^[8] After his death, the Viceroy informed London.^[9]:

Jatin Das of the Conspiracy Case, who was on hunger strike, died this afternoon at 1 p.m. Last night, five of the hunger strikers gave up their hunger strike. So there are only Bhagat Singh and Dutt who are on strike ...

Amarajeevi Sriramulu[link]

Potti Sriramulu was an Indian revolutionary who died after undertaking a hunger strike for 58 days in 1952 after Indian independence in an attempt to achieve the formation of a separate state, to be known as Andhra State. His sacrifice became instrumental in the linguistic re-organisation of states.

He is revered as Amarajeevi (Immortal being) in Coastal Andra for his sacrifice. 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 "untouchables" in Indian society.

British and American suffragettes[link]

Clipping from World Magazine, September 6, 1914.

In the early 20th century suffragettes frequently endured hunger strikes in British prisons. 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. Mary Clarke, Jean Hewart, Katherine Fry and several others died as a result of force-feeding.^{[citation needed]}

In 1913 the Prisoner's Temporary Discharge of Ill Health Act (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.

Like their British counterparts, American suffragettes also used this method of political protest. A few years prior to 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.

Irish republicans[link]

"This Mural Is Dedicated To The H Block & Armagh Prison Struggle And In Memory Of Bobby Sands, Kevin Lynch, Frank Hughes, Kieran Doherty, Raymond McCreesh, Tom McElwee, Patsy O'Hara, Michael Devine, Martin Hurson, Joe McDonnell."

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 embarrass him into a solution, was a common feature of society in 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.^[10]

The tactic was used by Irish republicans from 1917 and, subsequently, during the Anglo-Irish War, in the 1920s. Early use of hunger strikes by republicans had been countered by the British with force-feeding, which culminated in 1917 in the death of Thomas Ashe in Mountjoy Prison.

In October 1920, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney, died on hunger strike in Brixton prison. Two other Cork IRA men, Joe Murphy and Michael Fitzgerald, also died on hunger strike in this protest. The Guinness Book of Records lists the world record in hunger strike without force-feeding as 94 days, which was set from August 11 to November 12, 1920 by John and Peter Crowley, Thomas Donovan, Michael Burke, Michael O'Reilly, Christopher Upton, John Power, Joseph Kenny and Seán Hennessy at the prison of Cork.^[11][12] Arthur Griffith called off the strikes after the deaths of MacSwiney, Murphy and Fitzgerald.

After the end of the Irish Civil War in October 1923, up to 8000 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). Two men, Denny Barry and Andrew O'Sullivan, died on the strike. The strike, however, was called off before any more deaths occurred. The Free State subsequently released the women republican prisoners. Most of the male Republicans were not released until the following year.

Under the de Valera Fianna Fáil government three hunger strikers died in the Republic of Ireland in the 1940s. They were Sean McCaughey, Tony D'Arcy and Sean (Jack) McNeela. Hundreds of others carried out shorter hunger strikes during the de Valera years with no sympathy from the Government.

The tactic was revived by the Provisional IRA in the early 1970s, when several republicans such as Sean MacStiofain successfully used hunger strikes to get themselves released from custody without charge in the Republic of Ireland. Michael Gaughan died after being force-fed in a British prison in 1974. Frank Stagg, an IRA member being held in a British jail, died after a 62-day hunger strike in 1976 which he began as a campaign to be repatriated to Ireland.

Irish hunger strike of 1981[link]

In 1980, seven Republican prisoners in the Maze Prison launched a hunger strike as a protest against the revocation by the British government of a prisoner-of-war-like Special Category Status for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland. The strike, led by Brendan Hughes, was called off before any deaths, when Britain seemed to offer to concede their demands; however, the British 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.

Bobby Sands was the first of ten Irish republican paramilitary prisoners to die during a hunger strike in 1981. There was widespread support for the hunger strikers from Irish republicans and the broader nationalist community on both sides of the Irish border. Some of the hunger strikers were elected to both the Irish and British parliaments by an electorate who wished to register their support for the hunger strikers. The ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days,^[13] 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 huge propaganda boost to a severely demoralised Provisional IRA.

Cuban dissidents[link]

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 Cólon Cemetery in Havana.

Guillermo Fariñas did a seven-month hunger strike to protest against the extensive Internet censorship in Cuba. He ended it in Autumn 2006, with severe health problems although still conscious.^[14] Reporters Without Borders awarded its cyber-freedom prize to Guillermo Fariñas in 2006.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

Orlando Zapata

On February 23, 2010, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, 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 83 days, in Cuba's "Kilo 8" prison. He had declared the hunger strike in protest of the poor conditions of the prison in which he was held.^[18] He was one of 55 prisoners of conscience in Cuba to have been adopted by Amnesty International. He was charged with an array of offences including “resistance,” “contempt” and “disrespect”.

Political prisoners in Turkey[link]

Inspired by the Irish Republicans,^{[citation needed]} Turkish political prisoners developed a tradition of hunger strikes, which continues to this day. After the suppression of rising civil socialist movements by a military coup in 1980, many militants as well as civil activists were imprisoned under highly inhumane conditions. In response to torture and mistreatment of political prisoners, the first hunger strike was launched in 1984,^{[citation needed]}taking the lives of 4 Dev-Sol militants, Abdullah Meral, Haydar Başbağ, Fatih Öktülmüş and Hasan Telci.

In the following years, socialist movements have been increasingly marginalized and moved underground. However, many militant Marxist/Leninist groups have survived. For this reason, the number of political prisoners has always been high. In 1996, when the nationalist minister of the Islamist/conservative government launched a policy on segregation of political prisoners from each other, another hunger strike broke down, with the participation of several leftist militant groups. The strike lasted 69 days, took 12 lives, and the indifferent attitude of the government provoked a strong public protest. As a result, with the initiative of intellectuals including Yaşar Kemal, Zülfü Livaneli, and Orhan Pamuk, a deal was achieved between the government and prisoners. The prisoners took most of their rights back, which they recall as a victory.

The last wave of hunger strikes in Turkey, which has become chronic in recent years, was started against F-type prisons, which were designed for efficient segregation of political prisoners. The project was developed starting in 1997, and the strike was started on October 20, 2000, demanding F-type prisons not to be opened, by a large coalition of militant groups, this time including the Kurdish-separatist militants of PKK. The result was tragic. On December 19, 2000, the now democratic left-extreme nationalist coalition decided to break the strike using force, which was named "Back to life" operation. The operation was faced by a well-organized resistance of prisoners, resulting in the death of 28 prisoners and 2 soldiers. Since then, both F-type prisons and related hunger strikes have become an issue of daily life. According to the organization of prisoner relatives, 101 prisoners have died and above 400 have suffered from unrecoverable disease, particularly Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. The governments have consistently denied claims about mistreatment of prisoners, and president Ahmet Necdet Sezer has been pardoning diseased prisoners, only to be criticized by the extreme right, since many of the released militants have been seen in different demonstrations against F-type prisons. The government maintains that 189 hunger strikers received presidential pardons since 2000.

Recent instances (since 2000)[link]

Akbar Ganji[link]

Akbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist imprisoned in Evin prison since April 22, 2000. Ganji was on a hunger strike between May 19, 2005^[19] and early August, 2005, except for a 12-day period of leave he was granted on May 30, 2005 ahead of the ninth presidential elections on June 17, 2005. He is represented by a group of lawyers, including the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Shirin Ebadi. While on hunger strike Ganji wrote two letters to the free people of the world.^[20][21] On July 12, 2005 the White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement that the US president, George W. Bush, called on Iran to release Ganji "immediately and unconditionally." "Mr. Ganji is sadly only one victim of a wave of repression and human rights violations engaged in by the Iranian regime", "His calls for freedom deserve to be heard. His valiant efforts should not go in vain. The president calls on all supporters of human rights and freedom, and the United Nations, to take up Ganji's case and the overall human rights situation in Iran." "Mr. Ganji, please know that as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you", the statement said.

Swami Nigamanand[link]

Indian seer Swami Nigamanand went on a fast unto death to protest against illegal mining on the bank of the Ganga in Haridwar. Nigamanand, who was on fast beginning February 19, 2011 was declared dead the following June 13, after being on a hunger strike for 115 days. He was shifted to the district government hospital after his health deteriorated on April 27, and thereafter to the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust hospital in Dehra Dun in a state of coma on May 2. Nigamanand was on fast to force the state government to issue an order to stop quarrying in the Ganga. He also wanted the works of Himalaya Stone Crusher to be shifted from the Kumbh Mela area.

Anna Hazare[link]

Anna took part in a 12-day hunger strike protest in Ramlila Maidan, Delhi to protest political corruption and pressure the Indian government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.^[22] on 5 April, 2011.

His campaign for the strengthening the anti-corruption legislation proposed by the government received widespread support. All over the country people supported his movement, with tens of thousands of people attending protests across the country. Finally, Indian MPs expressed support for proposed changes to anti-corruption legislation on August 27, 2011. Following this Anna Hazare ended his hunger strike.

Legal situation[link]

Article 6 of the 1975 World Medical Association Tokyo Declaration states that doctors can undertake force-feeding under certain restricted rules and only where a second, independent physician is consulted and agrees to the move:-

"Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially. The decision as to the capacity of the prisoner to form such a judgment 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."

The World Medical Association recently revised and updated its Declaration of Malta on Hunger Strikers^{[dead link]}. 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 is a member of the World Medical Association, but the AMA's members are not bound by the WMA's decisions, and neither organization has formal legal powers.

The Code of Federal Regulations rule on inmate hunger strikes 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."^[23]

See also[link]

• Independent Royalist Party of Estonia held an eating strike to ridicule a hunger strike by Riigikogu members Lebedev and Petinov.^{[citation needed]}
• Fasting

References[link]

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (March 2010)

• Mahatma Gandhi and India
• Brains, Courage, Integrity
• 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
• ACTivist Magazine Fast for Peace 2003
• Turkey Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2004

External links[link]

• [1] Striking Differences: Hunger strikes in Israel and the United States
• Infoshop News – Palestinian Strike
• Women’s Suffrage
• How Long Can You Go Without Food? Hunger strikes 101, Slate magazine, June 10, 2004
• Scandal of force-fed prisoners Hunger strikers are tied down and fed through nasal tubes, admits Guantánamo Bay doctor (The Guardian, January 8, 2006)
• Guantanamo and Medical Ethics, JURIST
• [2] Fasting as a Method To Demand International Protection For the People of Darfur, Sudan

Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh;^[1] 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the British Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze.

He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected as a member of the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner candidate.^[2][3] His death resulted in a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.^[4]

Life[link]

Early years and family[link]

Sands was born into a Catholic family^[5][6] in Abbots Cross, but also lived in a house in Doonbeg Drive, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and lived there until 1960^[7] whereupon the family were forced to move to Rathcoole, Newtownabbey.^[7] His first sister, Marcella, was born in April 1955 and second sister, Bernadette, in November 1958. His parents, John and Rosaleen, had another son, John, in 1962. On leaving school, he became an apprentice coach-builder until he was forced out at gunpoint by loyalists.^{[8][clarification needed]}

In June 1972, at the age of 18, Bobby moved with his family to the Twinbrook housing estate in west Belfast, being obliged to leave Rathcoole due to loyalist intimidation.^[9]

He married Geraldine Noade. His son, Gerard, was born 8 May 1973. She soon left to live in England with their son.^[10]

Sands' sister Bernadette Sands McKevitt is also a prominent Irish Republican. Along with her husband Michael McKevitt she helped to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and is accused of involvement with the Real Irish Republican Army.^[11] Sands McKevitt is opposed to the Belfast Agreement, stating that "Bobby did not die for cross-border bodies with executive powers. He did not die for nationalists to be equal British citizens within the Northern Ireland state."^[12]

Provisional IRA activity[link]

In 1972, Sands joined the Provisional IRA.^[13] He was arrested and charged in October 1972 with possession of four handguns which were found in the house where he was staying. Sands was convicted in April 1973 sentenced to five years' imprisonment and released in April 1976.^[14][15]

On his release from prison in 1976, he returned to his family home in West Belfast, and resumed his active role in the Provisional IRA's campaign. He was charged with involvement in the October 1976 bombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry, although he was never convicted of this charge with the presiding judge stating that there was no evidence to support the assertion that he had taken part.^[16] After the bombing, Sands and at least five others were alleged to have been involved in a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, although he was not convicted due to lack of evidence. Leaving behind two of their wounded friends, Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett, Sands, Joe McDonnell, Seamus Finucane and Sean Lavery tried to make their escape in a car, but were apprehended. Later, one of the revolvers used in the attack was found in the car in which Sands had been travelling.^[17] His trial in September 1977 saw him being convicted of possession of firearms (the revolver from which the prosecution alleged bullets had been fired at the RUC after the bombing) and Sands was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment within HM Prison Maze, also known as Long Kesh.^[18]

Immediately after his sentence he was implicated in a ruckus and spent the first 22 days on boards in Crumlin Road Prison, 15 days naked, and a No. 1 starvation diet every 3 days.^[19]

Long Kesh[link]

In prison, Sands became a writer both of journalism and poetry—being published in the Irish republican newspaper An Phoblacht. In late 1980 Sands was chosen as Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, succeeding Brendan Hughes who was participating in the first hunger strike.

Republican prisoners had organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status and not be subject to ordinary prison regulations. This began with the "blanket protest" in 1976, in which the prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and wore blankets instead. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e. empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the "dirty protest", wherein prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.^[20]

Published works[link]

While in prison Sands had several letters and articles published in the Republican paper An Phoblacht (en: Republican News) under the pseudonym "Marcella". Other writings attributed to him are: Skylark Sing Your Lonely Song ^[21] and One Day in My Life.^[22] Sands also wrote the lyrics of "Back Home in Derry" and "McIlhatton", which were both later recorded by Christy Moore; and he wrote "Sad Song For Susan" which was later recorded. The melody of "Back Home in Derry" was borrowed from Gordon Lightfoot's famous 1976 song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Election[link]

Shortly after the beginning of the strike, Frank Maguire, the Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, died suddenly of a heart attack, precipitating the April 1981 by-election.

The sudden vacancy in a seat with a nationalist majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign.^[10] Pressure not to split the vote led other nationalist parties, notably the Social Democratic and Labour Party, to withdraw, and Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner". After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West—and also becoming the youngest MP at the time.^[23]

Following Sands' success, the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in British elections.^[24][25] This law was introduced so as to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament.^[26]

Hunger strike[link]

The 1981 Irish hunger strike started with Sands refusing food on 1 March 1981. Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals in order to maximise publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months.

The hunger strike centred around five demands:

1. the right not to wear a prison uniform;
2. the right not to do prison work;
3. the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
4. the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
5. full restoration of remission lost through the protest.^[27]

The significance of the hunger strike was the prisoners' aim of being declared as political prisoners (or prisoners of war) and not to be classed as criminals. The Washington Post, however, reported that the primary aim of the hunger strike was to generate international publicity.^[28]

Death[link]

Bobby Sands' grave in Milltown Cemetery

Sands died in the prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. The original pathologist's report recorded Sands' and the other hunger strikers' causes of death as "self-imposed starvation", later amended to simply "starvation" after protests from the dead strikers' families.^[29] The coroner recorded verdicts of "starvation, self-imposed".^[29]

The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milkman and his son, Eric and Desmond Guiney, died as a result of injuries sustained when their milk float crashed after being stoned by rioters in a predominantly nationalist area of north Belfast.^[30][31] Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands' funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their grave is maintained and cared for by the National Graves Association, Belfast.^[32] Sands was a Member of the Westminster Parliament for 25 days, though he never took his seat or the oath.

In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 1981, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".^[33] The official announcement of Sands' death in the House of Commons omitted the customary expression of sense of loss and sympathy with the family of the member.^[34]

He was survived by his parents, siblings, and a young son (Gerard) from his marriage to Geraldine Noade.

Reaction to death[link]

Europe[link]

Memorial mural along Falls Road, Belfast

In Europe, there were widespread protests after Sands' death. Five thousand Milanese students burned the Union Flag and shouted 'freedom for Ulster' during a march.^[4] The British Consulate at Ghent was raided.^[4] Thousands marched in Paris behind huge portraits of Sands, to chants of 'the IRA will conquer'.^[4] In the Portuguese Parliament, the opposition stood for Sands.^[4] In Oslo, demonstrators threw a tomato at Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom, but missed. (The 28 year old assailant claimed however that he had not aimed for the queen, but for a smirking British soldier)^{[4] [35]} In the Soviet Union, Pravda described it as 'another tragic page in the grim chronicle of oppression, discrimination, terror and violence' in Ireland. Russian fans of Bobby Sands published a translation of the "Back Home In Derry" song ("На Родину в Дерри" in Russian).^[4] Many French towns and cities have streets named after Sands, including in Nantes, Saint-Étienne, Le Mans, Vierzon, and Saint-Denis.^[36] In the Republic of Ireland, his death led to riots and bus burning. IRA members allegedly unsuccessfully attempted to coerce proprietors of shops and other businesses into closing for a national day of mourning.^[37] The West German newspaper Die Welt took a negative view of Sands.^[4]