21/05/2014 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Marietta Karamanli (France, SOC), general rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, has unreservedly condemned the execution in Gaza in early May of two Palestinians accused of “collaboration” with Israel – one by hanging and the other by firing squad.
“The Palestinian National Council, ‘partner for democracy’ of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, undertook to uphold a moratorium and, ultimately, to abolish the death penalty. As a matter of urgency, it must ensure that its commitments are also honoured in the Gaza Strip, under Hamas control.
These executions are all the more disturbing given that they took place just two weeks following the announcement of the reconciliation programme between Farah and Hamas. The continuing application of the death penalty, both brutal and pointless, in the Gaza Strip tarnishes the image of all Palestinians,” said Ms Karamanli.