Arab Parliament Speaker Adel Abdul-Rahman Al-Asoumi on Thursday condemned the Israeli Minister of Internal Security’s decision to withhold novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines from Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention.
Al-Asoumi said this decision violated the Third Geneva Convention, which stipulates that the costs of treatment, including those of any apparatus necessary for the maintenance of prisoners of war in good health, shall be borne by the Detaining Power.
He added that the Israeli decision was a clear violation to the rights of Palestinian prisoners, who are protected by the international law, describing it as racial discrimination against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
He also called on the international community to provide legal protection for Palestinian prisoners.
In a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the President of the World Health Organization, Al-Asoumi stressed the need for the international community to bear legal and humanitarian responsibility for the lives of Palestinian prisoners, to provide means of prevention, and to take all measures to protect them.
