Several civil society groups across South Africa staged nationwide protests on Tuesday in solidarity with pro-Palestine hunger strikers held in U.K. prisons, calling on the British government to secure their release.
The protests were held outside the British Council offices in Johannesburg, the British Consulate in Cape Town, and the Durban City Hall, where protest leaders handed over their list of demands to officials.
Madison Bannon of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the hunger strikers are on the verge of death, with some going without food for over 60 days.
‘‘They have been held without bail, and they are now really on death’s door,’’ she said.
The hunger strikers have been held for more than a year on accusations of allegedly breaking into Elbit Systems, a U.K. subsidiary of the Israeli defense company, in Bristol and the Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire.
The civil society groups claim that Elbit Systems is enabling the genocide in Gaza by supplying arms to Israel.
About 33 activists from the Palestine Action group remain in pre-trial detention, without being heard in court, civil society groups said in a statement forwarded to AA.
The groups say time is running out for the hunger strikers. The longest hunger striker, at 65 days, is Heba Muraisi, who has been held for over a year, according to the statement.
The groups want the U.K. government to intervene and meet the demands of the hunger strikers. They also want the South African government to mount maximum pressure on the U.K. to ensure the activists are released and given a fair trial.
The hunger strikers are demanding an end to all prison censorship of their communication, including the withholding of letters, phone calls and books.
They also want immediate bail for all members of the Palestine Action group currently being held in U.K. prisons, the right to a fair and timely trial for all Palestine Action prisoners and the de-proscription of Palestine Action and removal of its "terror” classification.
They are also calling for the shutdown of all Elbit Systems sites and subsidiaries operating in the U.K.
This is the second protest being held by South African civil society groups in less than a month, demanding the release of the hunger strikers.
