International organisations called on the European Union to take “urgent measures” against a law approved by Israel’s parliament allowing the death penalty solely for Palestinian prisoners.
The appeal came in a joint statement issued by 31 civil society organisations on Thursday, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
“As humanitarian relief and human rights organisations that have been working for years in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, we are deeply shocked by the Knesset’s decision to pass a bill that would make the death penalty mandatory in the West Bank, applied only to Palestinians,” the statement said.
Although the law does not explicitly mention ethnicity or nationality, it “is effectively designed to target Palestinians,” the organisations noted.
They added that, since the EU considers the death penalty “cruel, inhumane, and incompatible with human dignity” under all circumstances, urgent action against the new Israeli law is necessary.
The groups said the law violates internationally recognised safeguards for those facing the death penalty, constituting a breach of the right to life, international humanitarian law, and human rights law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture.
They also noted that previous EU efforts to persuade Israel to change its policies have so far yielded no results.
On Monday, Israel’s Knesset approved a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners, with executions to be carried out by hanging by guards appointed by the Israeli Prison Service, whose identities remain secret and protected from legal accountability.
