Palestinians Consider Resuming Executions
Reuters
Date: 02-24-05
By Cynthia Johnston
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) has taken steps toward resuming executions as part of a campaign to halt lawlessness and prevent revenge killings, despite the risk of European condemnation, legal and religious officials said.
A top Muslim religious official said President Mahmoud Abbas, responding to public pressure to crack down on crime, had asked him for Islamic legal rulings that would pave the way for him to carry out 16 death warrants, some issued years ago.
The move has worried human rights activists and threatens to make waves with the European Union (news - web sites), which is staunchly against the death penalty and is also the top donor to the aid-dependent Palestinian Authority.
But Palestinian officials stressed no final decision had been made and no executions were imminent.
The Palestinian Authority has not carried out a death sentence since it executed two Gazans in 2002 for raping and killing a 7-year-old girl. Rights activists say Palestinians had held off on further executions due to international pressure.
Death penalty opponents are concerned because Islamic religious sanction could pave the way for Abbas to ratify the death sentences, as is required before they can be carried out.
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the highest-ranking Palestinian Islamic legal authority, said he could issue a religious opinion on the cases "within weeks."
"The issue is that in Gaza there is security chaos. The crime of murder has spread there," he told Reuters.
"The people ... demanded the Palestinian Authority president carry out the death sentences on those who killed innocents to prevent future crimes and acts of revenge."
Attorney General Hussein Abu A'asi said some death penalty cases were referred a month ago to a judicial panel. "A committee is studying the files to give a full idea for the president," he said. "Abu Mazen (Abbas) is ... intent on enforcing the law."
The cases under review are for murder, not political crimes like helping Israel fight militants. Militants demand the execution of collaborators and have sometimes taken the law into their own hands, killing dozens accused of passing information.
SHOW OF STRENGTH
Keeping a lid on internal chaos could score points for Abbas with ordinary Palestinians so he can focus on another challenge -- persuading militants to formally abide by a cease-fire he agreed with Israel that raised hopes for resuming peace moves.
Abbas has taken steps, including a ban on unlicensed weapons, mostly aimed at reining in internal lawlessness that spiked in the months before Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s death.
But Palestinians risk international pressure if they take further steps toward executions. Fresh concern about the death penalty has prompted the European Union to object.
Sabri said Abbas wanted religious guidance to ensure the death sentences agree with Islamic law "so he can be confident" in ratifying them. An Abbas adviser had no immediate comment.
"This is what President Abu Mazen wants. He wants a type of caution," Sabri added.
He expected he could be referred more cases in the future. It was unclear how a new Palestinian cabinet, with new justice and interior ministers, would affect considerations.
Palestinian rights activist Bassem Eid estimated that dozens of Palestinians were on death row, and only a handful had been executed in recent years, and proposed forming a "reconciliation committee" that could avoid executions.
The Israeli rights group B'Tselem -- a frequent critic of Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories -- urged Abbas in a formal letter to abolish the death penalty.
"It was troubling because there haven't been ratifications for so long," said Rachel Greenspahn of B'Tselem. "There is nothing wrong with sending a very strong message that people will be punished for carrying out criminal acts. The question is how you do that."
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