PLO baselessly "fears that Palestinian prisoners will be subjected to Israeli medical experiments"
Image and text posted on the Facebook page of the PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs
The image shows Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr.
Posted text: “[Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs] Qadri Abu Bakr: We have concerns about the occupation’s attempt to vaccinate the prisoners [against] the Coronavirus
Dec. 25, 2020
Director of Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr said that the Israeli occupation has decided to vaccinate the prisoners with a vaccine [against] the Coronavirus.
Abu Bakr told the paper Filastin: ‘Before vaccinating the prisoners, the occupation must brief us on the type of vaccine, its source, and the defined time of the vaccination,’ and he placed a number of conditions, such as supervision by the [PA] Ministry of Health and Ministry of Prisoners and the presence of doctors and experts, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
He added: ‘Vaccinating the prisoners without briefing the relevant bodies about the type of vaccine and its source raises the concerns of the prisoners and the relevant bodies and causes them to fear that the prisoners will be subjected to Israeli medical experiments (see note below -Ed.).’
Abu Bakr called to defend the prisoners against the virus and provide them with their needs such as disinfectants, cleaning supplies, and masks. He also called to stop the prison management’s forceful control and the transfer [of the prisoners] between the prisons, in order to protect them from being infected with the virus.
The occupation is continuing to detain approximately 4,300 Palestinian prisoners, 700 of them sick people, 40 of them with incurable diseases, and 10 who are suffering from cancer at varying degrees of severity, according to official statistics.”
Libel on medical abuse of Palestinian prisoners - The PA claims that Israel abuses Palestinian prisoners through medical neglect, medical experiments, and by intentionally infecting them with diseases. However, the International Red Cross regularly visits these prisoners and has not documented or accused Israel of any of these claims. Likewise, lists of demands occasionally issued by the prisoners during hunger strikes—such as during one in 2011—include no demands relating to these claims. PMW has documented prisoners talking about how they "lack nothing" in the prisons and that "the worst thing about Israeli prison" is riding in a prison vehicle that has no padding on the seat. When PMW contacted the Israeli Ministry of Health in 2007 regarding PA claims of medical experiments on prisoners, the ministry responded: "Clinical testing on prisoners in prison was never approved, never performed, and is most certainly not taking place at present."