Ref: 4/2012
Date: 15 January 2012
Time: 10:00 GMT

On Wednesday, 11 January 2012, the Permanent Military Court sentenced (A. M. A.), 48, from Gaza City, to death by hanging after convicting him of collaboration with hostile parties and complicity to murder in violation of the Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979.

According to information available to PCHR, this is the first death sentence to be issued in 2012. Thus, the total number of death sentences issued by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has risen to 122 sentences since 1994, of which 25 have been issued in the West Bank and 97 in the Gaza Strip. Among those issued in the Gaza Strip, 36 sentences have been issued since 2007.

It should be noted that the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is unconstitutional when implemented by the PNA, as it has not been presented to, nor approved by the legislature. Since 1995, PCHR has repeatedly called for the abolition of this Code as it violates international standards of a fair trial.

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 upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to ratify such cruel and inhuman punishment;
3. Calls for an end to such implementation of the PLO Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979 because it is unconstitutional;
4. 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;
5. 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;
6. Emphasizes that the Palestinian Authority has the right to prosecute alleged traitors for crimes of treason, including those who collaborate with Israeli 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.