terrorism and similar public emergency threatening the life of the nation can be invoked as a justification.”211 In this context the legal framework of force-feeding hunger striking prisoners must also be mentioned. Given the dangerous and invasive nature of forcefeeding, it is not surprising that the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and on the right to health have both condemned Israel's force-feeding law and stated that it was "tantamount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment."212 Furthermore, the right to be free of torture and non-consensual medical treatment has been affirmed by the ICCPR and ICESCR.213 Addameer has argued that “Taking into consideration the amount of pain, and the possibility of death and irreversible physical damage that results from force-feeding, the practice may amount to an act of torture.”214 If considered an act of torture, force-feeding would be in violation of the Geneva Conventions and could be counted as a crime against humanity and a war crime according to the Rome Statute.215 Israeli Policies and Practices On 23 February Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat died in Israeli custody due to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. An autopsy revealed that this was not brought on by ‘natural causes,’ as Israel’s official position stated, but rather it was “attributable to torture.”216 Jaradat’s death affirms the conclusions of numerous reports on Israeli interrogation methods that the “Israeli Security Agency (ISA) still routinely employs psychological and physical abuse in interrogations,” a policy of abuse that is used systematically against Palestinian prisoners.217 211 OHCHR, Interpretation of torture, op. cit., 2011 212 A Bill passed by the Israeli parliament in July 2015, allowing the force-feeding of hunger-striking prisoners; OHCHR, Force-feeding is cruel and inhuman – UN experts urge Israel not to make it legal, 25 June 2014. Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews. aspx?NewsID=14770 213 ICCPR, Article 7; ICESCR, Article 12.2 214 Addameer, Factsheet: Force-feeding under International Law and Medical Standards, 16 November 2015. Available at: http://www.addameer.org/publications/factsheet-force-feeding-underinternational-law-and-medical-standards 215 Ibid. 216 Al-Haq and the Public Committee Against Torture, Leading International Forensic Pathologist: Palestinian Detainee Arafat Jaradat Was Tortured, Which Led to His Death In Israeli Custody, 4 April 2014. Available at: http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/topics/right-to-life-and-body-integrity/794joint-press-statement-the-public-committee-against-torture-in-israel-and-al-haq 217 B’Tselem, Torture and abuse under interrogation, last update: 29 March 2016. Available at: http:// www.btselem.org/torture 58