05 March 2021

Respect for the principle of personal independence in the treatment of prisoners on hunger strike

Based on a number of situations where prisoners have been placed in isolation, then transferred and immediately hospitalised in a secure psychiatric unit at the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace (CHPG) for a suicide risk assessment after announcing they were beginning a hunger strike, the High Commissioner deemed it useful to draw the attention of the prison authorities and medical department to the importance of respect for the principle of personal independence, which is protected by the ECHR on the grounds of the right to privacy, when dealing with prisoners on hunger strike. 

The entire recommendation is available on the site in french version only.