![\"Demonstrators](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/18d3e2359f7b3a4456c38c70784b58e80878c957\/500_0_2500_2000\/master\/2500.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=25c1709721ced572be2e71c8768b7266\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOn Monday, as the protest reached a dangerous stage, lawyers for the hunger strikers sent a legal letter claiming that by refusing a meeting, the justice secretary had failed to comply with the Ministry of Justice\u2019s own policy on handling of hunger strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The intervention came after three of the prisoners were simultaneously in hospital on Sunday: Qesser Zuhrah, 20, and Amu Gib, 30, who have been refusing food for 51 days and Kamran Ahmed, 28, who is on day 43 of his hunger strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Ahmed, it was the third time he had been hospitalized, with his condition now beyond the point of urgency, his sister Shahmina Alam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if she had a message for Lammy, Alam said: \u201cThere\u2019s still time to do better, better for the citizens of the UK in ending the UK complicity in the ongoing genocide [by Israel in Gaza], by supporting the prisoners that are putting their lives on the line to ensure transparency and integrity in our justice and government systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe has a choice. He can say something, and he can do something about this and meet with the solicitors or family members of the hunger strikers and he can show a bit of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>I\u2019m on hunger strike in a British prison. This is why<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amu Gib<\/a>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Referring to the Irish republican hunger strike during the Troubles that culminated in the death of Bobby Sands and nine others, she added: \u201cWe should not repeat the hunger strike of 1981, and we should not have to look at things in retrospect and wonder how things went so wrong when we have an opportunity to fix it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alam, 33, a pharmacist, said that the family were told on Monday that Ahmed was discharged late on Sunday night \u201cbut we haven\u2019t received any phone call from him, so we don\u2019t know how he\u2019s doing or why he went in the first place\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A repeated complaint of relatives and friends has been that they have not received updates when the prisoners are hospitalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zuhrah is believed to still be in hospital after an ambulance arrived at HMP Bronzefield on Wednesday afternoon<\/a>. Protesters gathered overnight on Tuesday accusing prison staff of refusing to allow her transfer to emergency care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her designated next of kin, her friend Ella Moulsdale, 21, said last week: \u201cImagine \u2026 someone you love and not knowing if they\u2019re alive \u2026 I have no confirmation that she was inside that ambulance, that she is being treated in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Francesca Nadin, of Prisoners for\u00a0Palestine<\/a>, said: \u201cUnlike the British government, the hunger strikers cannot take a Christmas holiday, as they continue to be locked up in prison cells, suffering immensely away from their families. Their lives are in grave danger, and they may die at any moment. We have been forced to threaten the government with legal action to get justice for the prisoners, and will not stop until we achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legal letter, sent by Imran Khan and Partners, said the claimants had a \u201clegitimate expectation\u201d from official policy documents \u201cthat the proposed defendant would convene a review meeting of individuals \u2018most likely to bring about the resolution of the situation\u2019, including \u2018those suggested by the individual\u2019 refusing food, to \u2018address the reasons for their refusal\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It called for a reply by 2pm on Tuesday, \u201cgiven the urgency of the situation in respect of our clients\u2019 deteriorating health\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said on Monday: \u201cWe strongly refute these claims. We want these prisoners to accept support and get better, and we will not create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the hunger strikers are in prison awaiting trial, charged with offences relating to alleged break-ins or criminal damage during protest actions.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n They will have served more than a year in jail before standing trial. The other current hunger strikers are Heba Muraisi, 31, who is on day 50, Teuta Hoxha, 29<\/a>, who is on day 44, and Lewie Chiaramello, 22, who is refusing food every other day, because he has diabetes, and is on day 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alam said: \u201cI can\u2019t really get the words together to [describe] how I feel because how do you put into words what it means when your baby brother is on a knife\u2019s edge?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is understood to be concern in government about the condition of the prisoners, but also extreme caution about setting a precedent even to facilitate a meeting with Lammy, given the number of prisoners who are forced to spend lengthy periods on remand because of the court backlog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials have been told to give regular updates, including on how the prisoners can be persuaded to change their minds and be given support to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But sources at the Ministry of Justice said there were very limited powers for the department to do more in terms of legal recourse or medical help that was not already being offered. Deaths in custody from hunger strikes were very rare, officials said, and most ended their strikes voluntarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Qesser](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1a8f8f070ee6602efa2eca30f52d54af1ef20604\/285_149_1314_1051\/master\/1314.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none\")
<\/a>![\"Amu](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2db51ae4455b3462fd5d864c87ac53fa3ac952cb\/0_63_2416_3249\/master\/2416.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none\")
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