Ref: 58/2010
On Tuesday, o6 July 2010, the Court of First Instance of
Deir al-Balah sentenced ‘Atiya Abdul Khaleq Farajallah, 23, from Nussairat
refugee camp, to death by hanging after he was convicted of willful killing.
According to first-hand information collected by the
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the Court of First Instance of Deir
al-Balah, was convened by Judge Akram Kollab, acting as president, and Judges Abdul
Fattah al-Najjar and Alaa’ al-Ghandour as members. The Court sentenced ‘Atiya
Farajallah to death by hanging after convicting him of killing Ahmed Musa
Farajallah, 11, on 28 November 2009. The
Attorney-General presented a medical report issued by a seven-member panel of
doctors which stated that Mr. Farajallah, the accused, is aware of his
actions. However, his mother argue that
he suffers from a mental disorder.
PCHR is gravely concerned over the continued application of
the death penalty in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and:
- Calls upon the PNA to announce
an immediate moratorium on the use of capital punishment, which violates
international human rights standards and instruments, particularly the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Covenant of Civil and
Political Rights (1966), and the UN Convention against Torture (1984);
- Calls upon Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas not to ratify these cruel and inhumane sentence, and to
prevent its implementation;
- Reiterates that abolishing the
death penalty does not imply leniency towards dangerous criminals, who
must be subjected to punishment that acts as a deterrent but also
maintains human dignity;
- Calls upon the PNA to review
all legislation relative 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 to enact a
unified penal code that conforms to the spirit of international human
rights instruments, especially those pertaining to the abolition of the
death penalty.
