Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas

PNA. PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CALLS FOR MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY

November 15, 2008: the Gaza City-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights wrote a report on the death sentence by a military court in Bethlehem and called on President Abbas not to approve the sentence.
On 12 November, the Military Court in Bethlehem sentenced Ayman Ahmed 'Awwad Daghamgha, 24 to death by firing squad.
He was convicted as a collaborator with Israeli forces in violation of article 131/A of the Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979.
PCHR also called for the complete abolition of the death penalty in Palestinian law. PCHR is "extremely concerned over the continued application of the death penalty in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) controlled areas, and therefore: calls upon the PNA to announce an immediate moratorium, calls upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to ratify these cruel and inhumane sentences, and to prevent their implementation, and calls upon the PNA to review all legislation relative to the death penalty, especially Law No. 74 (1936) that remains effective in the Gaza Strip, and the Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 (1960) that remains effective in the West Bank, and to enact a unified penal code that conforms to the spirit of international human rights instruments, especially those pertaining to the abolition of the death penalty."
It is worth noting that the Revolutionary Penal Code of Palestine Liberation Organization is unconstitutional in the PNA, as it has not been presented to nor approved by the legislature. PCHR has repeatedly called for its abolition as it violates international standards of fair trial and does not include fair and independent mechanisms for appealing against court sentences. (Sources: PNN, 15/11/2008)