Paul Murphy warns hunger strikers face death in UK prisons
Paul Murphy warned that hunger strikers held in British prisons risk dying unless the British state changes its approach. He said eight young people are on hunger strike protesting British support for genocide and appealed for their basic civil liberties to be upheld.
Paul Murphy named Keser Zura as being on day 47 of her hunger strike and recalled Martin Hurston's death in 1981 at 46 days. He said one protester was hospitalised only after significant protests led by Zahra Sultana and others to force the prison to allow an ambulance in.
The speaker set out the protesters' demands - an end to the censorship of their communications, the right to a fair trial and the granting of immediate bail.
Paul Murphy accused the British system of being an "injustice system" that "arms, supports, funds genocide" and warned of a perceived conspiracy of silence in the British media about the hunger strikes.
He appealed to colleagues to contact British counterparts to express concern and demand the upholding of basic civil liberties. He noted he had raised the issue in the House in the presence of the British Ambassador and was told the concerns would be relayed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Immediate concern
Paul Murphy named Keser Zura as being on day 47 of her hunger strike and recalled Martin Hurston's death in 1981 at 46 days. He said one protester was hospitalised only after significant protests led by Zahra Sultana and others to force the prison to allow an ambulance in.
Demands of the hunger strikers
The speaker set out the protesters' demands - an end to the censorship of their communications, the right to a fair trial and the granting of immediate bail.
Allegations of injustice and media silence
Paul Murphy accused the British system of being an "injustice system" that "arms, supports, funds genocide" and warned of a perceived conspiracy of silence in the British media about the hunger strikes.
Calls for political contact and official follow-up
He appealed to colleagues to contact British counterparts to express concern and demand the upholding of basic civil liberties. He noted he had raised the issue in the House in the presence of the British Ambassador and was told the concerns would be relayed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
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Transcript
By the time we come back in January, unless there is a change of approach by the British state, hunger strikers will have died in British prisons again. They will have been killed by an injustice system, a system that arms, supports, funds genocide. There are eight young people who are currently on hunger strike in Britain. These are people who have been held without trial, without bail for more than a year for protesting against British support for genocide. Keser Zura is on day 47 of her hunger strike. We know Martin Hurston died in 1981 at 46 days, another victim of the British injustice system. Yesterday she was hospitalised only after significant protests by Zahra Sultana and others demanding that the prison allow an ambulance in. Their demands are extremely reasonable. They include an end to the censorship of their communications, their right to a fair trial, their granting of immediate bail. There appears to be a conspiracy of silence on this matter in the British media. I am appealing to you to contact your British counterparts to express our concern about what is happening and demand that basic civil liberties are upheld. Thank you to Deputy Murphy for raising this important issue and nobody wants to see anybody on hunger strike, nobody wants to see anybody get ill arising from that as well. I note you took the opportunity of the presence of the British Ambassador here in the House today to raise your concerns in relation to this and I will also relay those concerns to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trudy.