Communication No. 266/1987 Submitted by: A. M. (name deleted) on 5 November 1987 Alleged victim: I. M. (author's brother, deceased) State party: Italy Declared inadmissible: 23 March 1989 (thirty-fifth session)* Subject matter: Victim's death after hungerstrike in protest against arrest on drug-related charges Procedural issues: Non-exhaustion of domestic remedies Substantive issues: Protection of the right to life Article of the Covenant: 6 (1) Article of the Optional Protocol: 5 (2) (b) 1. The author of the communication (initial submission postmarked 5 November 1987; further letters dated 20 June, 4 August, 5 and 28 September 1988 and 7 February 1989) is A. M., a Spanish citizen residing at Geneva, Switzerland. He submits the communication on behalf of his deceased brother, I. M., born on 18 August 1941 in Spain, who died in an Italian prison on 26 August 1987 following a hunger strike. He alleges that the Italian authorities violated his brother's human rights. 2.1 The author states that his brother was arrested in Milan on 6 April 1987 on suspicion of involvement in the traffic of drugs. He was allegedly not visited by the investigating officer, Judge A. C., until 3 June 1987, that is, almost two months after the beginning of his detention. It appears that this interrogation proved inconclusive and that no formal charges were raised, so that I. M. requested a second interrogation in order to establish his innocence. However, no further interrogation was granted and I. M. protested against his continued detention by going on a hunger strike on 7 July 1987. During this period he was allegedly seen only once by the prison doctors, when he was transferred to the hospital, only to be returned to the prison because his condition was not considered sufficiently serious. The doctors recommended that he be fed intravenously, but this recommendation was not implemented. 2.2 I. M.'s companion, M. E. E., was able to visit him every 15 days at the prison. When she saw him on 57