Number: 91/2023
Date: September 20, 2023
Native language: Arabic
Press release
The International Commission (Hashd) advises against issuing legal decisions that would exacerbate internal division.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd) is astounded by the ease with which decrees by law are issued, whether for new laws or to amend existing laws, the most recent of which was the issuance of the decree by law on 09/11/2023, amending the Penal Code No. 16) of 1960 and its amendments, effective in the northern governorates, but not extending to the law in force in the Gaza Strip.
about the purposes of the amendment related to expanding the scope of the definition of torture and ill-treatment punishable in the aforementioned law, if it is proven to have been committed by a public employee or by any person acting in an official capacity, in a manner consistent with what is stated in the Convention against Torture.
(Hashd) welcomes the prohibition and criminalization of torture and ill-treatment in national penal policy as a constitutional right guaranteed nationally and internationally, and considers the amendment’s inclusion of the law in force in the northern governorates, with no indication, even implicitly, of the amendment’s inclusion of the law in force in the southern governorates, to be a violation. In addition to being recognized and legitimized at the highest levels to perpetuate the geographical, political, and legal division, it affirms and demands the following:
1- The International Commission (Hashd) reiterates its position against torture, ill-treatment, or humiliating treatment, particularly given claims that persons held based on political affiliation, opinion, or expression are tortured by security services personnel.
2- The International Commission (Hashd) certifies the lack of a state of need that cannot tolerate delay, granting the President of the National Right the right to issue lawful decisions in line with Article (43) of the Palestinian Basic Law.
3- The International Commission (Hashd) calls on the presidency and the government to issue directives to the relevant authorities on the necessity of setting a date for holding general elections, including legislative ones, as it is a long-awaited constitutional and political right of citizens, and to do so in a way that ensures the legitimacy of the ruling system’s institutions, and that the Legislative Council assumes its oversight and legislative tasks, including legislative oversight.
Finished.
