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DEATH PENALTIES IN
PALESTINE: 1995-1997.
The death penalty in Palestine seems to have been reinstated with the
arrival of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. The first person sentenced
to death under the PA was Tha'er Mahmoud Faris, who was convicted and
sentenced to be executed by firing squad in May 1995. This was done in a
military court, which uses the Law of the Palestinian Revolution, approved
by the PLO in 1974.
Civil Laws
The civil laws of Palestine include the death penalty for a variety of
offenses, including murder. After the Israeli occupation began in 1967,
the Israeli army issued an order declaring that the death penalty would no
longer be available for the civil courts to use as a punishment for
crimes, including murder.
The laws regulating the death penalties in Palestine were written by the
British Mandate Authorities in 1936. The Jordanians added their own laws
to this, as did the Egyptian military authorities in Gaza. In May 1994,
President Arafat issued a decree informing Palestinians that in the areas
liberated from Israeli rule, the legal systems used would be those in
place before the Israeli occupation. This creates a conflict between the
Israeli military decrees issued since 1967 and the earlier laws. The civil
courts in general are still using Israeli military decrees as part of the
official legal code, unless they have been specifically revoked.. This
leaves open the question of whether the death penalty is legal in the
civil courts, including those under complete Palestinian civil and
military control.
The Oslo Accords create a further obstacle to clarification: laws passed
by the Legislative Council and approved by President Arafat, must be then
approved by Israel, except within narrow areas fully under the control of
the PA. Israel has signaled its resistance to the death penalty within the
PA by stipulating that suspects extradited to the PA may not face the
death penalty (Gaza and Jericho Agreement, 1994). In any case, is the
decree mentioned above, depriving all military regulations of any
legality, in accordance with the Oslo Accords? This question is not
resolved.
Military Laws
None of the above discussion effects the operation of either the military
courts or the State Security Courts (SSC) established in 1995. The former
are legal only if used against personnel employed or connected to the
various security forces. The SSC's have been heavily criticized by Amnesty
International in a comprehensive report issued - for not following basic
legal procedures, violating the rights of the accused, and refusing to
allow observers at its sessions. Both of the courts have used the death
penalty for convicted murderers.
One of the problems with the use of the death penalty by the military
courts and the SSC's, is that they do not meet internationally recognized
standards for legal procedure. These courts also do not have an
independent judiciary.
The Use of the Death Penalty in Palestine
1995-1997
The criminal courts have sentenced four people to death, the military
courts five, and the SSC's six - all in the past six months. The trials
conducted by the SSC were conducted in the middle of the night. Rajeh
Huliel Ali Abu-Sitta was sentenced to death in a trial that took fifteen
minutes to complete. The trial was held minutes after his arrest, at 3:00
a.m. (Two others were arrested and sentenced to death with Abu-Sitta.)
On March 6, three more people were sentenced to death only 36 hours after
being arrested for the murder of Preventative Security Service officer
Ismail Hasuna. The trial was also held before dawn, and lasted only one
session. The two trials mentioned represent the most severe violations of
the rights of the suspects and the suspects families. Attorneys and family
visits were not allowed, there was no time to prepare a defense or show
mitigating circumstances. Abu-Sitta claims that he was beaten in the time
between his arrest and the start of the trial. His family heard about the
trial and the death sentence from the newspaper.
It is clear therefore that the trials conducted by the SSC's are in
themselves a violation of human rights and the rule of law. There is no
right of appeal.
The trial of Al-Sakani and Al-Wadi was held in secret. The families of the
accused were not informed of the court dates, and therefore could not
attend or appoint a lawyer for the defendants. These violations are common
in the military courts, and the PHRMG is unable to determine if in this
case the violations were intentional or random.
In our opinion the operation of the Palestinian legal system is far from
perfect, and that of the military courts even worse. The widespread and
routine defects of the justice system (civilian and military) are an
additional reason for abolishing the death penalty, which would be wrong
even if the courts were above reproach.
On January x, Justice Minister Freih Abu-Medein told reporters that
President Arafat had commuted all death sentences by all the courts. But
this statement, made to reporters as a reply to a question, did not
acquire a formal status. Relatives of prisoners sentenced to death were
not informed of any change, and they report that defendants were not told
either. The legal states of Minister Abu-Medien's statement remains
unclear.
The laxity of the rule of law, in the courts, the implementation of the
death penalty, and even in the supposed commutation of all death penalties
is not acceptable. the PHRMG joins Amnesty International, and other
international and local human rights organizations in demanding that the
death penalty be abolished in Palestine.
The PHRMG calls on PA President Yassar
Arafat to:
1. Issue a decree forbidding courts, both military and civilian, from
sentencing anyone to death, until the Legislative Council is able to pass
a law abolishing the death penalty.
2. Abolish the State Security Courts. Justice Minister Freih Abu-Median
and Attorney General Khalid Al-Qidrah should take immediate steps to
protect the rights of defendants in the civilian and military courts, so
as to ensure that justice is carried out.
List of death penalties issued in
Palestine
Name
Age & Marital Status
Residence
Occupation
Date of sentence
Charge
Court
- Thae'r Mahmoud Faris
Jenin
Police
30/5/95
Killing Nasser Abu 'Aqel from the security service
Military - Gaza
- 'Odeh Muhammad Abu 'Azzab
Gaza
Civilian
31/10/95
Kidnapping and murder
Criminal - Gaza
- 'Attiyeh Khalil Abu Naqira
- 'Ala Abdulhamid 'Aqel
3 - married
Gaza
Police
10/3/96
Killing police officer Wae'l al-Maghari
Military - Gaza
- Mattar Harb Mattar al-Shobaki
Wae'l Sha'aban Salim al-Shobaki
- Salah Saleh Matar al-Shobaki
37
Gaza
Civilian
15/3/96
Kidnapping and killing money changer Abdullah Ramadan Shehadeh
Criminal - Gaza
- Ryad Mansour Abu Sossin
- Rajeh Hleil Ali Abu Sitteh
- Arafat 'Odeh Jum'aa Abu Shab
- Hatem Salameh Abu Wadi
- Kalil Hamed al-Sakakini
- Kheir Eldin Jadallah al-Bheissi
- Firas Yousef al-Bheissi
- Muhammad Mahmoud Muhammad al-Bheissi
- - married with two kids
- Wae'l Ghneim
Gaza
Force 17
3/7/97
Killing citizen Nasser Radwan on 30/6/97
Military - Gaza
- Fawzi Sawalha
24
North Assirah - Nablus
Force 17
12/8/97
Member of a terrorist group and collaboration with Israel
Military - Nablus
- Fahmi al-Tawil
24 - married with one child
Hebron
PSS
14/7/98
Killing Hamdi Mansour from the PSS and burning his body on 30/6/98
State security - Hebron
- Faris Kamal Abu Sultan*
- Muhammad Kamal Abu Sultan*
- Ra'ed Kamal Abu Sultan*
30 - married with 3 children
1 President Arafat has reduced sentence to lifetime imprisonment and
hard labor.
2. They were executed on 30/8/98 by gunfire in the Palestinian police
headquarters in GAZA, in the
presence of the following: Minister of Justice Frieh Abu Medein,
Minister of Housing
Abdulrahman Hamad, and Minister of Industry Sa'adi al-Karnaz. Some PLC
members were
also there:Jamileh Saydam ,Kamal Al-Sharafi , Jawwad al-Tibi , Rawhi
Fatouh , and Jalal
al-masdar. Heads of the secutiry forces were also present , including
ten members from al-Khalidi
family.
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