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His Excellency Yasir Arafat
President
Palestinian Authority
Gaza City
Gaza
Your Excellency,
Human Rights Watch is writing to urge you not to ratify yesterday's death sentence passed by a military court in Hebron against Hassan Mohammed Hassan Musallem. We understand that Mr. Musallem, an officer with the Palestinian security forces, was found guilty of collaborating with the Israel Defense Forces, allegedly by supplying them with information and by opening fire from a Palestinian sector of Hebron, thereby providing a pretext for Israeli return of fire.
We fully recognize the duty and responsibility of the Palestinian Authority to seek to bring to justice those who have committed criminal offences, such as those for which Mr. Musallem has been convicted. We do, however, oppose the use of the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life, both because of its inherent cruelty, and because of the possibility that individuals wrongly convicted may be executed. We are also deeply disturbed by the Palestinian Authority's recourse to the death penalty in cases where defendants received grossly unfair trials before state security and military courts whose verdicts may have been influenced by political considerations. This has continued despite Your Excellency's statements that the Palestinian Authority is committed to respect internationally recognized human rights standards and to incorporate them into Palestinian law.
Press reports suggest that in the case of Mr. Musallem, he may have the right to appeal to a higher tribunal--unlike in previous cases where convictions were issued after military trials which lasted only a few hours and where the accused had no access to legal representation or the right of appeal. At a minimum, all suspects tried before any Palestinian court should be provided with the following internationally recognized rights:
to be presumed innocent until proven guilty;
to be tried before a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal;
to be informed of the nature and basis of the charges against him or her;
to have adequate time to prepare a defense, to present a defense to the charges, and call witnesses in their defense;
to be provided with legal representation, paid by the state, if necessary;
to examine the evidence and the witnesses against him or her;
not to be compelled to testify against himself or herself, or to confess guilt; and,
to appeal conviction and sentence to a higher tribunal according to law.
In addition, persons sentenced to death should always have the right to seek pardon or commutation of their sentence.
Your Excellency, it is a matter of deep concern to Human Rights Watch that the Palestinian Authority continues to defy the worldwide trend towards the abolition of the death penalty by handing down death sentences and carrying out executions. Human Rights Watch again urges you to undertake the progressive restriction and ultimate elimination of the death penalty in Palestinian law. We also urge you to commute to a lesser sentence the death sentence against Mr. Musallem, should it eventually be brought before you for ratification.
It is to the credit of the Palestinian Authority that until last month you had maintained a twenty-two month moratorium on executions. In light of reports that in recent weeks an unknown number of Palestinians have been arrested as suspected collaborators, we appeal to Your Excellency to immediately suspend all executions and to ensure that all those brought to trial are afforded the necessary due process rights as guaranteed under international law.
Yours sincerely,
Hanny Megally
Executive Director
Middle East and North Africa Division
