On Tuesday, 10 January 2017, the Court of First Instance in Gaza sentenced N.G., 26, and M.G., 27, to death by hanging. The Court sentenced a third defendant to life imprisonment and another seven defendants to varied terms of imprisonment. The defendants are from Al Sheja’iya and are convicted of the premeditated murder of Mohammed Sa’eed Hilis, 21. The Court based its ruling on the Palestinian Penal Code No. 74 of 1936. Hillis was admitted to Shifa Hospital on Thursday, 19 September 2013 after being stabbed in the heart and was pronounced dead upon arrival. The police arrested the defendants the same day.

In 2016 alone Gaza courts sentenced and approved death sentences of 21 convicted individuals, representing a significant rise in the issuance of the death penalty. The Gaza Government executed three people.

Al Mezan expresses its deep concern for the continued use of the death penalty in Palestine despite the universal trend and need to abolish it. While recognizing the gravity of the alleged crimes, Al Mezan fully opposes the application of the death penalty in all instances. Al Mezan calls for the cooperative implementation, by the community and government, of restorative justice principles in view of repairing harm caused by crime and reducing future harm through crime prevention.

Al Mezan re-asserts that crime rates directly reflect socioeconomic conditions, and are not relative to punishment laws. Capital punishment is proven not deter crime. Steps must be taken to ameliorate socioeconomic conditions in the Gaza Strip, create stability and security, and support the rule of law.

Al Mezan calls for an immediate halt to the issuance of the death penalty as a first step toward abolishing the practice completely through legislative reform. These steps must be part of the efforts to achieve Palestinian internal reconciliation. The relevant Palestinian laws must be amended in line with human right principles and obligations, including those incumbent on the State of Palestine.