Al Mezan condemns Court of Appeals issuance of death sentence in Gaza [EN/AR]
- Pays
- territoire Palestinien occupé
- Sources
- Al Mezan
- Date de publication
- Origine
- Voir l'original
On Thursday morning, 14 April 2022, the Court of Appeals in Gaza sentenced a 31-year-old man to death by hanging, following his conviction for the premeditated murder of 28-year-old Nour-al-Din Ouda on 5 January 2018 using a harmful tool during a fight in public.
It should be noted that the Court of First Instance sentenced the convicted man to life imprisonment, however, the appeals court amended the sentence to death by hanging.
This ruling brought the number of death sentences issued in 2022 to six, and to 40 since the State of Palestine ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which aims at the abolition of the death penalty, in 2019.
Al Mezan reiterates its criticism of the use of the death penalty as the practice constitutes a form of inhuman punishment contrary to international legal standards. It is also widely regarded as ineffective in preventing or deterring serious crime. Also, this punishment violates Palestine’s obligations under international human rights law that arise from the State’s accession to international treaties, especially the ICCPR and its optional protocols.
Al Mezan calls on all competent Palestinian authorities to immediately stop issuing death sentences, to completely abolish the practice, and to apply more efficient punishments in compliance with Palestine’s international obligations.