NOVANEWS
On Thursday, 09 May 2013, the Military Court in Gaza City sentenced M.A.N. (48), a civil servant from al-Sha’af neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, to death by hanging. The court convicted M.A.N. of spying in favor of an enemy entity, in violation of the Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979.
According to PCHR’s documentation, this sentence is the second of its kind to be issued in 2013. Thus, the number of death sentences issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA) since its establishment in 1994 is 134, including 107 death sentences issued in the Gaza Strip and 27 in the West Bank. 46 of these sentences have been issued since 2007. Of these sentences, 27 have been implemented, including 25 in the Gaza Strip and 2 in the West Bank. Since 2007, 14 death sentences have been implemented in the Gaza Strip without ratification by the Palestinian President, in violation of the law.
PCHR notes that the application of the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is unconstitutional when applied by the PNA as it has neither been presented to, nor approved by, the appropriate legislature. In addition, since 1995, PCHR has repeatedly called for the repeal of the Penal Code, as it violates international standards for a fair trial.
PCHR is extremely concerned about the continued use of the death penalty in PNA-controlled areas, and:
1. Calls for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment as it violates international human rights standards and instruments, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, and the UN Convention against Torture of 1984;
2. Calls upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to ratify sentences which call for the death penalty, as such treatment amounts to cruel and inhuman punishment;
3. Calls for the repeal of the PLO Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979 as it is unconstitutional;
4. Calls for a review of all legislation related to the death penalty, especially Law No. 74 (1936), which remains in effect in the Gaza Strip, and the Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 (1960), which remains in effect in the West Bank, and the enactment of a unified penal code that conforms to the spirit of international human rights instruments, especially those pertaining to the abolition of the death penalty;
5. Points out that a call for the abolishment of the death penalty does not reflect a tolerance for serious crimes, rather is a call for utilising deterrent penalties that maintain standards of humane treatment; and
6. Emphasises that the Palestinian Authority has the right to prosecute alleged traitors for crimes of treason, including those who collaborate with occupation authorities. However, PCHR emphasises the right of each person to a fair trial conducted in accordance with accepted international legal standards. Any penalty imposed must serve as a deterrent, while also maintaining standards of humane treatment.
