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MIDEAST: Fatah Men Face Imminent Execution in Gaza

Mel Frykberg

RAMALLAH, Apr 6 2010 (IPS) - Nine Palestinians – most of them affiliated to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Fatah movement – face imminent execution by hanging or firing squad in Gaza.

The Hamas authorities, who control Gaza, have accused nearly all the condemned men of “treason and collaborating with Israel”. Another seven Palestinians have been sentenced to death in absentia.

Hamas-run military courts in Gaza sentenced 16 people to death in 2009 and 2010. Eight of these were convicted of treason. A Hamas civilian court sentenced one person to death during that period.

Hamas interior minister Fathi Hammad stated that the death penalty would be carried out in the near future against “agents of Israel who have been sentenced to death, regardless of the position of rights groups that reject these kind of sentences.”

“The death penalty is inherently cruel and inhuman, and the death sentences handed down by Hamas military courts violate fair trial standards,” said Human Rights Watch (HRW) which released a report on the imminent executions on Monday.

“The entire government and legal system in Gaza is illegal. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about the situation as we are not in control of Gaza,” PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib told IPS.


“Hamas’ legal system is not to be trusted. The Hamas government has proven itself to be vengeful and vindictive in regard to Fatah members,” Samir Awad from Birzeit University, near Ramallah, told IPS.

In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians can be sentenced to death for 42 separate offences despite international standards generally applying the death penalty for only the most serious crimes.

The Hamas authorities have also called for capital punishment to be meted out for certain offences related to drug dealing.

Civil courts in Gaza apply the death penalty under the 1936 Penal Law No. 74, dating from the British mandate. In the West Bank, the PA’s civil courts impose capital punishment under the 1960 Jordanian Penal Law No. 16, which dates from Jordan’s occupation of the West Bank.

Military court death sentences are applied under the Palestine Liberation Organisation Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979.

However, the code remains vague in regard to some of the situations in which it can be applied. Penal code article 165 applies capital punishment for any crime that “incites people” and “harms the reputation or prestige of the Palestinian revolution.”

Furthermore, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) has not ratified the code and therefore it remains unconstitutional even under Palestinian law.

The PLC remains frozen and politically divided between Hamas and Fatah following the civil war which broke out between the two main Palestinian political factions in Gaza in June 2007 when Hamas ousted Fatah from the coastal territory.

According to Palestinian law, Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president, has to ratify the death sentences before they can be carried out.

Abbas’ official term ended in January 2009 but he has remained in office after he postponed elections, citing the current political upheaval, until June 2010. Hamas counters that Abbas’ rule is no longer constitutional and, therefore, he no longer has to be consulted for ratification.

The Islamic movement stated that it is in the process of establishing a committee of legal advisers and officials to ratify death sentences handed down in Gaza.

However, Hamas attorney-general, Muhammed Abed, last week called for Gaza’s military courts’ ruling against the men on death row to be implemented immediately.

What concerns human rights organisations is the politically motivated circumstances in which the death penalty is carried out in the Palestinian territories.

“We are concerned about the lack of transparency, due process and impartiality. We see Fatah members being sentenced to death in Hamas courts,” Bill van Esveld from HRW told IPS. “However, we haven’t seen Hamas members we have documented being involved in similar crimes being sentenced to death in Gaza.”

HRW documented 32 cases of masked gunmen said to be affiliated with Hamas executing alleged collaborators during Israel’s military assault on Gaza from December 2008 to January 2009.

Of further concern is that convictions are based on confessions obtained under physical and mental duress and torture.

“Part of an emerging pattern involved the lawyer of one of the accused telling us his client was forced to confess.

“This was backed up by the court which used this confession as part of its evidence against the individual despite the circumstances under which it was obtained,” explained van Esveld.

“What is also problematic is the number of condemned civilians who should not have been tried in a military court in the first place,” van Esveld told IPS.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza has also stated that those who are on death row have not been given sufficient time to mount an effective defence and many have been denied access to lawyers.

Despite the UN General Assembly calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of capital punishment in December 2007 there appears to be no sign of political will in either the West Bank or Gaza to ban the practice.

“No death penalties have been carried out in Gaza since 2005. It’s not necessary to carry them out now. This would only be taking a step backwards,” says van Esveld. Meanwhile, the fate of the men in Gaza seems sealed unless a last minute reprieve is received.

“The PA could open backdoor channels with the Hamas authorities and negotiate for these sentences to be commuted via a quid pro quo exchange,” Awad told IPS. However, Khatib told IPS that the Arab countries and regional authorities are in a stronger position to exert pressure on Hamas if the lives of the men are to be saved.

 
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