EU condemns death sentencing in Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The EU on Thursday urged the Gaza government not to carry out capital punishment after the Hamas-led administration sentenced two men to death in January.
In a statement, EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned the death sentence handed down on Jan. 11 by a military court in Gaza.
The court sentenced a 48-year-old man to death on charges of collaboration and conspiracy to murder, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said.
On Monday, a civil court in Gaza on Monday issued the death sentence to a 27-year-old man convicted of murdering his brother, the second death penalty ordered in 2012.
Since 1994, 25 death penalties have been issued in the West Bank and 98 in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas administration has issued 37 death penalties since it took control of Gaza in 2007.
The EU urged the Hamas government to refrain from carrying out any executions of prisoners and to comply with the de facto moratorium on executions put in place by the Fatah-led administration in the West Bank.
PCHR called for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty noting that it violated international human rights standards.
It urged President Mahmoud Abbas “not to ratify such cruel and inhuman punishment.”
“The call for the abolition of the death penalty does not reflect a tolerance for those convicted of serious crimes, but rather a call for utilizing deterrent penalties that maintain our humanity,” PCHR said in a statement.
In a statement, EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned the death sentence handed down on Jan. 11 by a military court in Gaza.
The court sentenced a 48-year-old man to death on charges of collaboration and conspiracy to murder, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said.
On Monday, a civil court in Gaza on Monday issued the death sentence to a 27-year-old man convicted of murdering his brother, the second death penalty ordered in 2012.
Since 1994, 25 death penalties have been issued in the West Bank and 98 in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas administration has issued 37 death penalties since it took control of Gaza in 2007.
The EU urged the Hamas government to refrain from carrying out any executions of prisoners and to comply with the de facto moratorium on executions put in place by the Fatah-led administration in the West Bank.
PCHR called for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty noting that it violated international human rights standards.
It urged President Mahmoud Abbas “not to ratify such cruel and inhuman punishment.”
“The call for the abolition of the death penalty does not reflect a tolerance for those convicted of serious crimes, but rather a call for utilizing deterrent penalties that maintain our humanity,” PCHR said in a statement.
(Source: maannews.net)
