Ref: 24/2021

Date: 23 February 2021

Time: 11:30 GMT

On Sunday, 21 February 2021, 14-year old ‘Amr Hazem al-Malahi arrived at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as a dead body, and there were signs of assault and torture on his body. The police opened an investigation into the incident; the victim’s father was arrested and interrogated under the charge of assault causing death.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the killing of al-Malahi and demands the maximum penalty be imposed on the perpetrator of this crime. PCHR emphasizes that tolerance towards domestic violence practices against children and women contributes to the recurrence of such heinous crimes, that are vehemently and unequivocally rejected by Palestinian society.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 14:00 on Sunday, 21 February 2021, the body of ‘Amr Hazem al-Malahi, from Zaytun neighborhood in southern Gaza City, arrived at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and there were clear signs of beating and torture throughout  his body. Al-Malahi’s corpse was referred to the Forensic Medicine Department to identify the death cause. Sources from the Forensic Medicine Department said to PCHR’s researcher that the cause of death is a hemorrhagic and nervous shock. Ayman al-Batniji, Spokesperson of the Palestinian Police in Gaza, said that an investigation was opened into the incident and the victim’s father, who was accused of beating his son to death, remains under arrest. 

PCHR reaffirms that the protection of children from domestic violence is within the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child that Palestine acceded to in 2014. This obligation means that authorities should provide protection mechanisms for children from domestic violence and make them easily accessible.  PCHR also emphasizes that there is dereliction of duty by bodies responsible for activating protection mechanisms approved by the 2004 Palestinian Child’s Law to protect children from domestic violence.

PCHR considers that the postponement of passing the Domestic Violence Protection Bill into law, which has been opposed for tenuous reasons, contributes to increased violence against children and women in the Palestinian society.

PCHR is extremely concerned over the appearance of such heinous crimes against children in Palestinian society and calls for exerting more efforts by the police and the public prosecution to prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence crimes and take all necessary legal measures against them without regard to any excuses or justifications.

PCHR calls upon the Palestinian President to adopt Domestic Violence Protection Bill into law and to harmonize domestic laws with international conventions, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).