Ref: 51/2011
On Tuesday, 31 May 2011, the Military Court in Gaza City sentenced
Fadel Msallam Shallouf, 26, from the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, to
death by hanging. The court convicted
Shallouf of spying in favor of an enemy state, in violation of the Palestinian
Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979. Shallouf had been kidnapped on 10 January 2010 by members of the Popular
Resistance Committees in Rafah, and was handed over to the Internal Security
Service on 17 January 2010.
PCHR notes that the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) is unconstitutional when applied by the PNA as it has not
been presented to, nor approved by, the legislature. Since 1995, PCHR has
also repeatedly called for its abolition as it violates international standards
of fair trial.
According to PCHR’s documentation, this sentence is the fourth of
its kinds in the Gaza Strip in 2011, three of which have been issued by
military courts and the fourth one by a civil court. Thus, the number of death sentences issued by
the Palestinian Authority since its establishment in 1994 has mounted to 116,
including 23 ones issued in the West Bank, the latest of which was on 12
September 2009; and 93 ones in the Gaza Strip. Nineteen of these sentences have been executed, including two ones in
the West Bank, the latest of which was in 2002,; and 17 ones in the Gaza Strip,
the latest of which was on 04 May 2011. In 2010, the government in Gaza implemented 5 death sentences.
PCHR is
extremely concerned over the continued application of the death penalty in PNA
controlled areas, and:
1. Calls for the announcement of 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 of Civil and Political Rights
1966, and the UN Convention against Torture 1984.
2. Denounces trying a civilian person before a military court contrary
to the Palestinain Basic Law, whose Article 30 (1) stipulates that “each
Palestinian shall have the right to seek redress in the judicial system…,”
and Article 101(2) states that “Military courts shall be established by
special laws. Such courts may not have any jurisdiction beyond military
affairs.” PCHR emphasizes that trying a civilian person before a military
court is unjustified, especially as the Palestinian Penal Law No. 74, applicable
in the Gaza Strip deals with such cases. Accordingly, PCHR calls for retrying any person who has been sentenced
by a military court before a civil court.
3. Calls upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to ratify such
cruel and inhuman punishment.
4. Calls for stopping the application of the PLO Revolutionary Penal
Code of 1979 because it is unconstitutional.
5. Calls for reviewing all legislations related to the death penalty,
especially Law No. 74 (1936) that remains in effect in the Gaza Strip, and the
Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 (1960) that remains in effect in the West Bank, and
enacting a unified penal code that conforms to the spirit of international
human rights instruments, especially those pertaining to the abolition of the
death penalty.
6. Points out that the call for the abolishment 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.
7. Emphasizes that the Palestinian Authority has the right to
prosecute alleged traitors for crimes of treason, including those who
collaborate with occupation authorities. However, PCHR highlights the
right of each person to a fair trial conducted in accordance with accepted
legal standards. Any penalty imposed must serve as a deterrent while also
maintaining standards of humanity. PCHR also reiterates that its stance against
the death penalty is a professional opinion based on legal and ethical
standards.
