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Gaza Government Executes Two Persons; Al Mezan Calls for Respect for Law

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26 July 2011 |Reference 61/2011

In the early hours of Tuesday 26 July 2011, the Gaza Government executed M.
M.
A.
K.
, 58, and R.
M.
M.
K.
, 29, who had both been, according to the list of charges against them, sentenced to death for ‘collaboration with the Israeli occupation’.
The execution is in contravention with the 2001 Palestinian Code of Criminal Procedure No.
3 stipulates that the Palestinian President must approve the execution of every death sentence before it is executed according to Article 409, which states: “The death sentence shall not be executed without the ratification of the President.
”   According to their affidavits to Al Mezan, the victims’ relatives received a call at approximately 1:00am on Tuesday morning to visit the two convicted persons because the death sentence was to be executed.
The visit lasted until 3:00am on the same day.
The victims’ relatives then left the Ansar Detention Center and went to the Shifa Hospital to wait the dead bodies.
At approximately 6:00am on the same day, their bodies were admitted to the hospital.
 According to the information available to Al Mezan, the execution was conducted by hanging until death in accordance with the wording of the court ruling.
  The spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoI) in Gaza asserted that the execution of the death sentence was carried out in the presence of the public prosecution, the Ministry of Justice, the chief court clerk, a cleric, and the chief of police.
In addition, he emphasized that the victims and their relatives were informed of the intention to execute the death sentence and that the victims’ relatives were given the opportunity to visit the two convicted persons for the last time.
  Gaza’s MoI published a statement declaring that ‘on Tuesday 26 July 2011 M.
M.
A.
K.
and R.
M.
M.
K.
had both been sentenced to death for collaboration with the Israeli occupation.
’ It added that the death sentence was executed after all appeals had been exhausted and the indictment was evident and; therefore, its execution had become imperative.
The MoI also pointed out in its statement that ‘the execution of the death sentence was carried out after the Palestinian government’s (in Gaza) ratification of a decision authorizing the execution of death sentences against those involved in cooperation with the Israeli occupation’ (unofficial translation by Al Mezan).
  According to information published by the MoI, and as documented at the time by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, on Monday 29 November 2004, the Court of First Instance’s Grand Criminal Chamber sentenced the two convicted persons to death by hanging for collaboration with the Israeli occupation forces.
The two, according to the MoI statement, were convicted of collaboration with premeditation.
On 14 July 2011 the appeals court declined their appeal and affirmed the execution of the death sentence.
The appeals court identified the charges against them as follows:   ·         Collaboration with a foreign entity the purpose of harming the supreme national interest, in violation of Article 77/B of Ordinance No.
555 of the year 1957 (both defendants).
·         Weakening morale and the strength of resistance, in violation of Article78/A of Ordinance No.
555 for the year 1957 (both defendants).
·         Killing with premeditation in violation of Articles 214, 215,216, and 23 of the Penal Code of 1936 (both defendants).
·         Killing with premeditation and in association with others in violation of Articles 214, 215, 216, and 23 of the Penal Code of 1936 (second defendant).
·         Attempted murder in association with others in violation of Article 222 and 23 of the Penal Code of 1936 (first defendant).
  The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights notes that crimes of espionage are considered among the most serious of crimes, and that prosecution of perpetrators and implementation of punishments according to the law is necessary.
However, Al Mezan emphasizes its rejection of the death penalty in principle, as a violation of human rights and human dignity.
Al Mezan also considers the Gaza government’s execution of the death sentences without the ratification of the President to be an unlawful conduct.
  End