Ref: 100/2010 

On
Tuesday, 2 November 2010, the Court of First Instance of Gaza sentenced Zahi
Abdul Rahman al-Masri, 32, from Beit Lahia in the northern governorate, to
death by hanging after he was convicted of the willful killing of Samah Sofian
al-Shamali, 9, on 6 December 2004.

According
to first-hand information collected by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights
(PCHR), the Court of First Instance of Gaza, was convened by Judge Ashraf Fares,
acting as president, and Judges Tawfeeq Jaber and Hassan al-Hessi as members. Last Tuesday, the Court sentenced Zahi
al-Masri to death by hanging after convicting him of kidnapping and killing
Samah al-Shamali in 2004.

PCHR
is gravely concerned over the continued application of the death penalty in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, and:

1. Calls upon the Palestinian National Authority (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 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 these
cruel and inhumane sentences, and to prevent its implementation;

3. 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; and

4. Calls upon the PNA to review all legislations 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.