Tuerk emphasized that the law passed by parliament on Monday is “another and particularly serious violation of international law.”
“It is clearly inconsistent with Israel's obligations under international law, in particular with regard to the right to life,” said a statement by the UNHCHR office. The statement stressed that the provisions also raise “serious concerns about respect for the rights of defense, are deeply discriminatory and must be repealed immediately.” The document also stated that they were aimed at the Palestinian population.
Tuerk also expressed concern about the proposals contained in another bill currently being considered by the Knesset, which aims to create a special military court to try crimes committed during and after the attacks by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
“These legislative measures, by discriminating against Palestinians who are often convicted in unfair trials, will only exacerbate Israel's violations of the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid,” the UNHCHR said in a statement.
Since the founding of Israel, two death sentences have been carried out
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also lodged a protest against the regulations adopted on Monday. The body, which brings together 612 parliamentarians from 46 member states of the Council of Europe (CoE), as well as from three observer states: Israel, Canada and Mexico, emphasized that the law was specifically designed to apply only to the Palestinian population. The document states that the adoption of the regulations threatens to undermine Israel's status as an observer of the European Council.
“I hope that the Israeli Supreme Court will reject this law,” Assembly Speaker Petra Bayr said in a statement. She also emphasized that the adopted provisions would probably be the subject of debate at the PACE session scheduled for April 22 in Strasbourg.
AFP recalled that although the Israeli penal code contains the death penalty, it has been used only twice since the state's establishment in 1948: shortly after the declaration of independence, it was executed on an army captain accused of high treason and in 1962 on the German war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
