Ref: 55/2012

On Sunday, 13 May 2012, the Gaza Court of
Cassation rejected an appeal submitted by N.J.D, from Gaza City, who was
sentenced to death by hanging.  N.J.D was convicted of murder, in
accordance with the Penal Code of 1936. 
On 29 April 2011, the Court of First Instance sentenced him to death,
and the Court of Appeal confirmed this decision on 15 June 2011. 

According to PCHR’s documentation, this is the
fifth death sentence to be confirmed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of
2012. 

It is worth noting that the total number of
death sentences issued by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has risen to
126 sentences since 1994, of which 25 have been issued in the West Bank and 101 in the Gaza
Strip.  

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, as it constitutes a violation of international human
rights laws and standards, 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 upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to not to ratify
such cruel and inhuman punishments;

3. 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 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; and

4. 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 preserve our humanity.