Adalah: Israel's proposed death penalty intended for Palestinians only

As an Israeli parliamentary committee prepares to debate the first draft of the "Death Penalty for Terrorists" bill, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel fears it is intended for Palestinians only and demands that it be struck down for violating international law and Israel's Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

The Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee is slated to discuss the bill tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 14 November 2018.

Adalah sent a letter today, Tuesday, 13 November 2018 to committee chairman Knesset Member Nissan Slomiansky demanding that he shelve the bill.

In his letter to MK Slomiansky, Adalah Attorney Rabea Eghbariah argues that the death penalty is an example of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, and therefore contradicts the spirit of international law and the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

Eghbariah also stressed that most of the countries of the world – certainly the democracies amongst them – have completely prohibited the imposition of the death penalty. Moreover, the death penalty does not serve the declared purpose of the bill: multiple studies consistently attest to the failure of the death penalty in serving as a deterrence.

Further, the legislation of a death penalty in Israel could potentially lead – vis a vis its practical application – to discrimination based on ethnicity and national belonging. The law would be imposed by the Knesset on the Israeli military courts in the occupied West Bank – in contradiction of the provisions of international law – and would create different norms of application on Palestinian residents of the West Bank."

Adalah Attorney Rabea Eghbariah commented on the bill:

"At a time when countries around the world are ridding themselves of the death penalty, Israel is seeking to legitimize it. This is a draconian bill that is not only futile in its declared purpose of creating a deterrent effect, but contradicts core legal rights and is overtly aimed at Palestinians exclusively."

CLICK HERE to read the letter [Hebrew]

CLICK HERE to read the draft bill [Hebrew]

(Photo by Adaptor- Plug/Flickr Creative Commons)