Within the scope of the right to life: Hunger strikes and operations back to life

Since the existence of humanity, the concept of human rights has been a subject of debate and undoubtedly stands as one of the most crucial areas of law. The right to life, safeguarded in numerous documents and declarations throughout history, is indisputably the most significant among these rights. Expecting individuals to possess other rights without the right to life is implausible. This stems from the thesis of the inviolability and sacredness of life. However, changing circumstances have contributed to the increasing importance of the thesis regarding the quality of life. Accordingly, individuals have both a biological and a biographical life. It is not possible to speak of real life without the quality of life. Here, a hunger strike becomes entangled in the distinction between the thesis of the sanctity and inviolability of life and the thesis of the quality of life. The question of the injustice of a hunger strike will vary depending on which thesis is embraced. A hunger strike is, in short, when individuals refuse to eat, making their lives a bargaining chip to communicate certain demands to authorities and, if possible, get them accepted. Interventions in this action can sometimes constitute a violation of the prohibition of torture, considering the means and methods used. Moreover, force-feeding may violate individuals' rights to determine their own futures. In many prisons in our country, hunger strikes and death fasts were initiated to protest the transition to F-type high-security closed prisons. To end these hunger strikes and facilitate the transfer of prisoners to F-type high-security closed prisons, a nationwide operation known as the "Operation Back to Life" was carried out. Due to the excessiveness of the interventions, numerous appeals were made to both the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. In our study, firstly, the definition of the right to life will be provided, and the negative, positive, and procedural obligations of states under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights will be explained. Issues specific to the right to life will be evaluated, and after defining hunger strikes and explaining their legal nature, they will be examined in terms of some fundamental rights and freedoms. The discussion on intervening in hunger strikes will take place, and the Operation Back to Life will be narrated, followed by an evaluation of the appeals made to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights due to this operation.