Four put to death in Gaza City jail

Monday June 13, 2005

Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv

The Palestinian Authority yesterday executed four men, bringing back the death penalty as part of its campaign to enforce the law in the Palestinian territories, officials said.

The men were found guilty of criminal rather than political offences and were put to death in the central jail in Gaza City. Three were hanged and one was shot.

According to Tawfiq Abu Khousa, a spokesman for the interior ministry, the men were sentenced to death for murder by a court and the sentences were signed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, on Saturday.

"There is a new policy to fight the chaos in the Palestinian territories," he said.

Since the beginning of the second intifada, Palestinian-controlled areas have been plagued by lawlessness. The police infrastructure was destroyed by the Israelis, leaving gunmen in charge. Even in Gaza, where police were not attacked in the same way as the West Bank, they have little ability to combat the gunmen.

On Saturday, 40 gunmen attacked a police headquarters in Gaza City, starting a three-hour shootout. Later, gunmen opened fire near the home of a Palestinian police chief.

The Palestinian Authority has had the death penalty in place since its establishment in 1994, although Yasser Arafat, its late president, halted it in 2001 after criticism by human rights groups.

The names of the executed were not published yesterday but it is believed that one was found guilty of abducting and murdering a money changer in Gaza City two years ago.

Shortly after his election in January 2005, Mr Abbas submitted the cases of some prisoners on death row to the Grand Mufti, the Muslim spiritual leader in Jerusalem. He reportedly advised that five prisoners convicted of murder and rape should be executed.

Raji al-Surani, from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, said yesterday: "Our philosophy is against the death penalty."