Palestine
14.09.00
Urgent Interventions
Palestine Autonomous Areas: Mohammad Al Khawaja sentenced to death
Case PAL 140900
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Palestine Autonomous Areas.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by information received from the Palestinian Society for the Protection for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of the OMCT network, that on 11 September 2000, the State Security Court in Gaza sentenced to death by firing squad Mohammad Al Khawaja, 19, from Jabalya, after he was convicted of the murder of Mustafa Baroud, 72, from the same village. Al Khawaja had asked the victim to accompany him to the house to change a large sum of money and then stabbed Baroud to death.
According to the information received, the court convened 11th September 2000 in the presence of a three-judge panel, Major Abed Al Aziz Wadi, Ahmad Radi and Abed Al Karim Al Hindi. The State Security Court Attorney General Khaled Al-Qidreh and Deputy Attorney General Fares Ahmad represented the prosecution. Lawyer Riyad Imteir assumed the defence. The panel unanimously issued the death sentence by firing squad against the defendant in accordance with Articles 214, 215, and 216 of the 1936 Palestinian Penal Code. The sentence cannot be appealed and must be ratified by the President.
The recent sentence raises the number of death penalties issued by Palestinian courts to 31 since the establishment of the PNA. Since its creation in 1995, the State Security Court has issued 11 death penalties. The military courts have issued 16 death sentences; 3 of which have been executed and one commuted to life imprisonment. The regular courts have issued 4 death penalties. However, none of the sentences issued by the State Security Court have ever been executed.
OMCT stresses that it is strongly opposed to the death penalty as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.
Furthermore, it believes that the case should have been referred to a civil court as a the State Security Court does not provide internationally recognized standards of fair trial, such as the right to choose a lawyer and the right to appeal a sentence.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Palestine Autonomous Areas urging them to:
i. ensure that the sentence against Mohammad Al Khawaja is not ratified and that he be retried in a regular civil court according to international standards for a fair trial;
ii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
President Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Authority, Al-Muntada, Gaza, Fax: 00 972 7 282 2365
Mr. Freih Abu Meddein, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Abu Khadra Building, Omar El Mukhtar Street, Gaza, Fax: 00 972 7 286 7109
Mr. Khaled Al-Qidreh, Attorney General for the State Security Courts, Police Headquarters, Gaza, Fax: 00 972 7 282 4253
Geneva, September 14, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Palestine Autonomous Areas.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by information received from the Palestinian Society for the Protection for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of the OMCT network, that on 11 September 2000, the State Security Court in Gaza sentenced to death by firing squad Mohammad Al Khawaja, 19, from Jabalya, after he was convicted of the murder of Mustafa Baroud, 72, from the same village. Al Khawaja had asked the victim to accompany him to the house to change a large sum of money and then stabbed Baroud to death.
According to the information received, the court convened 11th September 2000 in the presence of a three-judge panel, Major Abed Al Aziz Wadi, Ahmad Radi and Abed Al Karim Al Hindi. The State Security Court Attorney General Khaled Al-Qidreh and Deputy Attorney General Fares Ahmad represented the prosecution. Lawyer Riyad Imteir assumed the defence. The panel unanimously issued the death sentence by firing squad against the defendant in accordance with Articles 214, 215, and 216 of the 1936 Palestinian Penal Code. The sentence cannot be appealed and must be ratified by the President.
The recent sentence raises the number of death penalties issued by Palestinian courts to 31 since the establishment of the PNA. Since its creation in 1995, the State Security Court has issued 11 death penalties. The military courts have issued 16 death sentences; 3 of which have been executed and one commuted to life imprisonment. The regular courts have issued 4 death penalties. However, none of the sentences issued by the State Security Court have ever been executed.
OMCT stresses that it is strongly opposed to the death penalty as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.
Furthermore, it believes that the case should have been referred to a civil court as a the State Security Court does not provide internationally recognized standards of fair trial, such as the right to choose a lawyer and the right to appeal a sentence.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Palestine Autonomous Areas urging them to:
i. ensure that the sentence against Mohammad Al Khawaja is not ratified and that he be retried in a regular civil court according to international standards for a fair trial;
ii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
President Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Authority, Al-Muntada, Gaza, Fax: 00 972 7 282 2365
Mr. Freih Abu Meddein, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Abu Khadra Building, Omar El Mukhtar Street, Gaza, Fax: 00 972 7 286 7109
Mr. Khaled Al-Qidreh, Attorney General for the State Security Courts, Police Headquarters, Gaza, Fax: 00 972 7 282 4253
Geneva, September 14, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.