Ref: 28/2006

Date:  21 June 2006

Proceedings of the Second Session on the Conference on “The New Palestinian Government and the Human Rights Agenda”

Mr. Abdul Karim Abu Salah, Head of the Legislation Council and former Minister of Justice, headed the second session of the conference in the section on civil and political rights.  The session included four interventions and general discussion. 

Mar. Abu Salah called upon the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to approve the Penal Law – which was approved by the former PLC in the first reading – in its second and third readings to be ratified by the Palestinian President.  He emphasized that this draft law took into consideration human rights standards.

Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR, emphasized in an intervention on “The Right to Life: The Death Penalty under the Palestinian National Authority” the clear position of human rights organizations rejecting the death penalty as it constitutes a violation of the right to life.  Mr. Sourani said: “Ironically, the two countries in the world where the death penalty is most applicable are the United States and Saudi Arabia, the former for cultural reasons and the latter for religious reasons, but the death penalty in the two countries does not deter crimes as there is an increase in crimes.”

Mr. Sourani pointed out that between 1995 and 2005, 74 death sentences were issued against persons in areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority in various cases, and most of those sentences were issued by state security courts, which were established by a presidential decree issued in 1994.  In most of these cases, Mr. Sourani asserted, the minimum standards of justice were not available for those who were sentenced to death or even executed.  Mr. Sourani pointed out that 13 of those death sentences were implemented, including 5 in 2005 alone.        

Mr. Souranu further asserted that 88 states in the world do not apply the death penalty, whereas 55 others apply them often in the framework of penal laws.  He pointed out that 13 Arab states apply the death penalty, which is uncomfortable.

The death penalty, Mr. Sourani emphasized, constitutes a violation of human rights, and a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Mr. Sourani also expressed full support for the rule of law.  “However, as we seek the best,” he said, “we believe that it is necessary to abolish the death penalty.” He wished that the Palestinian president and the government would at least freeze death sentences issued by state security courts. 

In an intervention titled “The Right to Free Expression: Towards Reconsidering the Press Law of 1995”, Mr. Hassan al-Kashef, a journalist and author, talked about the media work in light of the current Palestinian situation, which is characterized by security, political, economic and media chaos.

He said: “We have a painful situation that has accumulated over 12 years, which is in fact our problem since it does not give any weight for good laws because they are in fact inapplicable.”  He further emphasized that the value of democracy lies in providing appropriate conditions for peaceful transition of authority, which we do not have, because our civil and political institutions were established on a factional basis rather than a professional, national one.  

Mr. al-Kashef asserted that no investigations have been conducted in attacks against journalists, and the attackers have referred to as unknown even through they are known. 

In his intervention titled “The Right to Political Participation: Further Steps towards Democratic Reform,” Mr. Hamdi Shaqqura, Director of PCHR Democratic Development Unit focused on two main point: reforming the electoral system; and holding the last stage of elections of local councils.  He called for reconsidering the Palestinian electoral law through applying the principle of proportional representation, which is the best to express political pluralism in the Palestinian society.  He indicated that the results of the latest elections, which were organized in accordance with the mixed electoral system, do not accurately reflect the Palestinian political pluralism. 

Mr. Shaqqura called upon the PLC and the government to reconsider the electoral law, and adopt the principle of proportional representation alone in elections, or at least, decreasing the number of electoral constituencies to two in the Gaza Strip and two others in the West Bank. 

He further called for taking more steps towards democratic reform in spite of the internal and external difficulties, and those who do not want the people to be the source of authority.  He explained that he was not astonished by the external hostility towards the outcome of the Palestinian democracy, especially by the United States whose history is full of hostility towards democracies and support for dictatorships. 

With regard to local elections, Mr. Shaqqura called for holding the fifth stage of elections of local councils, whose number is 60.  He called also for reaching a formula or a political resolution for the results of elections of the local councils of Rafah, Beit Lahia and al-Boreij. He believed that the best solution is to fully repeat elections in the three areas in accordance with the new law, which calls for proportional representation. 

Dr. Yousef Rizqa, Minister of Information, presented an intervention on the issues that were raised in the three previous interventions.  Concerning the death penalty, Dr. Riza asserted that the Palestinian government believes in the right to life, which is granted by God. “The government also believes,” Dr. Rizqa pointed out, that human beings make mistakes, and some mistakes must be punished.”  He asserted that the death penalty is applicable in the Islam to specific cases: retaliation; adultery; and apostate. 

Dr. Rizqa argued that the problem of the death penalty is not caused by religions, especially heavenly ones, rather it is caused by the misapplication of religions and the misuse of authority as it was the case in World War 2 and it is now in some countries, where people are punished for political reasons rather than for criminal ones.  He called for making the application of the death penalty in the Palestinian law consistent with the Islamic legislation.  He further called for not applying the death penalty under political, social or factional pressure. 

With regard to the right to freedom of expression, Dr. Rizqa asserted that this right is a fundamental human right and one of the foundations of democratic regimes.  He pointed out that the declaration by the Palestinian President on 30 September 1993 that the Palestine Liberation Organization would respect international human rights instruments must be made effective in the Press Law and the provisions that violate these instruments must be amended.  To maintain this commitment, Mr. Rizqa emphasized, the Ministry of Information should find mechanisms to review the Press Law, taking into consideration criticisms by human rights organizations and individuals to certain provisions of the law, to draft amendments to the law ensuring the right to freedom of expression to be later submitted to the PLC and the government for approval. 

With regard to the right to political participation, Dr. Riza emphasized that political participation is an integral part of the electoral process.  He further pointed out that the latest elections in Palestine are a source of pride for the Palestinian president, parties and people.  However, he argued, this democratic process does not end with voting and declaration of results, rather it is a beginning for recognizing democratic reform and the results, which allow the winners to assume power and apply the platform for which they were elected, without any obstacles from inside or outside ministries.   

At the end of the first session, its head opened the door for discussion.