Ref: 29/2015

On Monday, 08 June 2015, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights
(PCHR) organized a workshop on the death penalty and extra-judicial execution
in the Palestinian Authority in cooperation with Deir al-Balah Cultural and
Social Association in Deir al-Balah. The workshop targeted a group of civil
society activists and leaders and was attended by 33 persons, including 11
women. The participants discussed opinions and perspectives related to the
death penalty and the need to abolish it.

The workshop addressed a number of topics, the most prominent of
which were: the death penalty in domestic and international laws; guarantees of
the application of the death penalty under domestic and international
standards; controversy over the abolishment of the death penalty; and the legal
and objective justifications for PCHR’s rejection for the death penalty in
Palestine. Moreover, the workshop addressed the application of extra-judicial
executions for suspicions of collaboration with Israeli forces and how they
pose threats to the safety and security of the Palestinian society and the rule
of law. Mohammed Abu Hashem, a legal and human rights researcher at PCHR,
facilitated the workshop.

The participants praised the workshop.  They highlighted the importance of the
subject matter and the necessity to extensively discuss it so everyone can
understand the enormous risks associated with the application of extra-judicial
execution or any other death sentences particularly in view of the complicated
circumstances under which the Palestinian people live. After the participants
realized the negative impact of extra-judicial execution regardless what the
crime is, the majority of them confirmed that the workshop made them reconsider
the issue of extra-judicial execution for suspicious of collaboration with the
occupation and the death penalty in general. They became more aware of PCHR’s
legitimate concerns over the application of the death penalty, especially in
light of the lack of potentials in criminal investigation in Palestine
generally, and in the Gaza Strip particularly.

This workshop is part of PCHR’s efforts to abolish the death
penalty and end the phenomenon of extra-judicial execution in addition to
mobilizing the public opinion in order to pressurize the Palestinian Presidents
to sign the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights 1989, aiming at the abolishment of death penalty.

PCHR usually cooperate with the grassroots associations and local
leaders in its various activities to enhance networking and promote and raise
awareness of human rights. PCHR also seeks to enhance legal orientation of the
grassroots and concerned associations.

It should be noted that this workshop is part of a project
implemented by PCHR in cooperation with the Representative Office of the
Federal Republic of Germany to the Palestinian Authority.