The ‘Filton 24’ have passed day 40 of their ongoing hunger strike – marking the largest, longest hunger strike of prisoners in the UK since Bobby Sands died in a British prison hunger striking for Irish liberation in the 1980s. Solidarity protests were held this weekend in Oxford, New York, and Kuala Lampur.
The Filton 24 are a group of pro-Palestine activists arrested in 2024 following direct action to intervene in Palestinian genocide by dismantling an Elbit Systems weapons manufacturer, an Israeli arms company linked to weapons used in Gaza. Despite not being convicted, many of them have been held on remand for extended periods, with some resorting to hunger strikes to protest their prolonged detention and politically motivated repression.
According to DazedDigital, “Some of the group have now been held on remand for over a year without having been convicted of any crime, an unusually lengthy pre-trial detention which leading human rights group Amnesty International and several UN experts have described as a misuse of counter-terrorism laws. ‘These activists and their families were subjected to violent dawn raids by counter-terrorism police, and though they haven’t been charged with terrorism offences, are being treated as terrorist prisoners and mistreated by the authorities,’ Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE International, tells Dazed.
“During their time in prison, they have reported experiencing ‘systematic abuse’, including being held in solitary confinement, denied books, letters and phone calls, and a range of Islamophobic incidents, including Qesser Zuhrah being ordered to remove her keffiyeh hijab. The hunger strikers are demanding not only an end to these alleged conditions but release on bail, the overturning of the ban on Palestine Action and the closure of Elbit Systems’ sites in Britain.
“Their situation is growing more urgent with each passing day. A doctor supporting the families of the hunger strikers has described himself as ‘extremely concerned’, warned that there is a ‘very, very high risk of death’ and alleged that the strikers are receiving inadequate medical care within prison. Five of them have already been hospitalised. There has been an outpouring of international solidarity – including from high-profile figures like Sally Rooney and Democrat Rashida Tlaib, who called on the UK government to meet their “basic, moral demands” – and a series of protests across the UK, but the reaction from the British establishment has been muted. There has been little coverage by the BBC and other mainstream media outlets. Confronted by activists earlier this week, Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy claimed, ‘I don’t know anything about this’.
“A Ministry of Justice spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations of abuse, citing the fact that the prisons in question are independently run, but said the Deputy Prime Minister was being kept informed of the situation and that prisoners’ wellbeing is ‘continually” assessed, including hospitalisation where deemed necessary by medical professionals. The Ministry of Justice, Sodexo and UCL were all contacted for comment on the allegations raised in this interview.”
Amnesty International recently issued a statement responding to reports of the worsening condition of the hunger strikers, saying “Amnesty International is seriously concerned at reports of the worsening condition of members of the Filton 24 who are on hunger strike. Amnesty has consistently opposed the use of anti-terrorism powers in these cases. They have been used to justify excessively lengthy pre-trial detention and draconian prison conditions.”
“The UK’s anti-terrorism laws are excessively broad and open to misuse, as has been demonstrated in the Filton 24 case where prosecutors have sought to escalate ordinary criminal prosecutions of direct-action protesters into terrorism cases. The use of terrorism laws to circumvent due process and impose harsher punishments on direct action protesters is a threat to expression and assembly rights for everyone.
“Prosecutors must drop the allegations of a ‘terrorism connection’ in these cases and end any excessively lengthy pre-trial detention.”
At a protest outside Downing Street on Thursday night, the mother of one of the Filton 24 called for the hunger strike to be ended. She warned that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would be willing to let them die, saying the British government’s record has already shown how far they are prepared to go in support of Israel.
New York solidarity rally:
