Khan Yunis Court of First Instance Sentences Man to Death

Khan Yunis Court of First Instance Sentences Man to Death

Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:00

Ref: 76/2013

On Wednesday, 10 July 2013, the Court of First Instance in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip sentenced M.F.A., 24, from Rafah, to death by hanging after convicting him of premeditated killing and robbery, in violation of the Palestinian Penal Code. 

According to PCHR’s documentation, this is the eighth death sentence to be issued in 2013.  Thus, the total number of death sentences issued by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has risen to 139 sentences since 1994, of which 27 have been issued in the West Bank and 112 in the Gaza Strip.  Among those issued in the Gaza Strip, 51 sentences have been issued since 2007.  Additionally, the PNA has executed 29 death sentences, of which 27 have been executed in the Gaza Strip and 2 in the West Bank.  Since 2007, the Gaza government has executed 16 death sentences without ratification of the Palestinian President in violation of the law. 

PCHR is gravely concerned over the continued application 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 because it violates international human rights standards and instruments, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the UN Convention against Torture (1984);

2- Calls for reviewing 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) that is in effect in the West Bank, and enacting a unified penal code that is in line with the spirit of international human rights instruments, especially those pertaining to the abolition of the death penalty;

3- Points out that the call for abolition of the death penalty does not reflect a tolerance for those convicted of serious crimes, but rather a call for utilizing deterrent penalties that maintain our humanity;

4- Confirms that the ratification of death sentences is an exclusive power of the President of the PNA under the Code of Criminal Procedures (3) of 2001, and the implementation of death sentences without the President's ratification constitutes a violation of the law and constitution. 

ENDS

© Scoop Media