New Death Sentence in Gaza: PCHR Demands Immediate Moratorium
Ref: 60/2022
Date: 21 May 2022
Time: 15:00 GMT
The Higher Crime Committee in the Gaza Strip issued a unanimous decision on Thursday, 19 May 2022, sentencing M.Y (45) to death by hanging following a speedy trial that lasted less than a month and a half. M.Y, from Gaza City, was convicted of killing his wife N.KH (31) as a result of a violent assault on 18 February 2022.
PCHR emphasizes its total support for the families of victims and importance of the rule of law, as well as its vehement condemnation of all murder crimes and particularly those whose victims are women suffering domestic abuse, a core issue that PCHR has worked on for many years. In the meantime, PCHR reiterates that death penalty is not the only mean to achieve justice or deter such crimes; and highlights the fact that Palestine is a State Party to the 1989 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
In this respect, PCHR refers to the Higher Judicial Council press release on the matter, which commended the adherence of the court to public opinion and the speedy trial, “The ruling is a precedent by the Higher Crime Committee in terms of the speedy trial processing for a case that has concerned public opinion. The trial took less than a month and a half since it was admitted to the Committee.”[1]
PCHR asserts that speedy trials and adherence to public opinion cannot be subject to praise; on the contrary, the judiciary must be independent from any pressure by public opinion, and it is a prerequisite for judiciary independency. Justice and adequate legal procedures must be the higher standard above all else.
Accordingly, the death sentences issued in 2022 in Gaza rise to seven, and one sentence issued by the Military Appeals Court in affirmation of a former death sentence issued by the Military Court of First Instance. The total number of death sentences issued in the Palestinian territory since 1994 reached 259; 30 in the West Bank and 229 in the Gaza Strip. Among those issued in the Gaza Strip, 170 sentences were issued after the 2007 Palestinian political division.
Since the establishment of the PA in 1994, 41 death sentences were executed: 39 in the Gaza Strip, and two in the West Bank. Of those executed in the Gaza Strip, 28 were conducted without the ratification of the Palestinian President in violation of Palestinian law. In this context, PCHR stresses the need to refrain from ratifying death sentences in a prelude to abolishing this punishment from the Palestinian legislations.
PCHR reminds the authorities that the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is biding to Palestine, including the Gaza Strip. Therefore, PCHR calls on the authorities in the Gaza Strip not to use the death penalty and replace it with a life sentence with hard labor.
PCHR also calls upon the Palestinian President to issue a law by decree to suspend the use of legal articles related to the death penalty in the Palestinian that conflict with Palestine’s obligations under the ICCPR Protocol aiming at abolishing the death penalty.
[1] Higher Judicial Council, Higher Crime Committee Issues Ruling of Death By Hanging for Man Convicted of Murdering His Wife and Sends Another to Jail. Available here: https://www.hjc.gov.ps/ar/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%89-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1-%d8%ad%d9%83%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%8b-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%b4/