The Human Rights Commissioner urges Israel to abandon draft laws that apply the death penalty exclusively to Palestinians

Türk’s statement on Friday came in response to a series of proposals presented before the Israeli Knesset, including to amend the military law applied in the occupied West Bank, which requires military courts to impose the mandatory death penalty on all those convicted of premeditated murder.

It also includes an amendment to the Israeli Penal Code to introduce the death penalty for those convicted of intentionally killing Israelis in a terrorist act, retroactively to those convicted in connection with the attacks of October 7, 2023. In addition, there is a proposal to use the death penalty for acts of terrorism. “Terrorism, racism, or hostility toward the public,” These are terms that are defined very vaguely and loosely, according to the Human Rights Office.

Türk said that the United Nations clearly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, because… “This punishment is difficult to reconcile with human dignity, and it raises the risk of executing innocent people, which is unacceptable.” However, he stressed that the Israeli proposals to introduce mandatory death sentences “It leaves no discretion to the courts, and violates the right to life.”

He added that the wording of this legislation, along with statements by Israeli politicians, indicate that the goal is for it to apply only to Palestinians, who are often convicted after unfair trials. He stressed that this raises serious concerns regarding discrimination against Palestinians and violations of their rights to fair trials, as well as other violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

The High Commissioner said that these proposals also violate international humanitarian law standards relating to criminal procedure and the imposition of the death penalty on the population of an occupied territory. He recalled that depriving any Palestinian from the West Bank and Gaza Strip of the fair trial guarantees stipulated in the Fourth Geneva Convention is a war crime.