URGENT APPEAL to the Palestinian Authority for 4 men facing execution

At least four men from Gaza City are facing execution in the Gaza Strip. One of them, Na'el Jamal Qandil Doghmosh, was sentenced to death after, according to his family, he was tortured to make him "confess" to a murder.

Na'el Jamal Qandil Doghmosh could be executed at any time, by hanging. Sentenced to death for murder in April 2011, his final appeal was rejected by the Court of Cassation on 13 May 2012. According to his family, he "confessed" under torture by police investigators after he was arrested on 9 May 2010, aged 18. When his family was first able to visit him two months later, his nails had been torn out and he had burns and bruises on his body.

According to the local human rights NGO Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), another man, known only as F.T.W., also faces execution by hanging for murder. His sentence was confirmed on 21 May by the Court of Cassation. Thirty-eight-year-old J.Z.J. may also be executed at any time, by firing squad: his appeal to the Military High Court was rejected on 14 February 2012.

Another man, known only as A.M.A., was convicted on 11 January 2012 by the Permanent Military Court of "collaboration" with the Israeli army and murder. Though he has an appeal pending in the military court against his sentence to death by hanging, Amnesty International is gravely concerned that he will face execution in the near future if his appeal is unsuccessful.

The Hamas de facto administration in the Gaza Strip executed three men by hanging on 7 April: Mohammed Baraka, from Deir al-Balah, who was convicted of murder, W.K.J., from al-Bureij refugee camp, convicted of treason and being an accessory to murder, and M.J.A., convicted of abduction and murder. Soon after the executions, Hamas officials stated that anyone found to have collaborated with Israel would be executed as a deterrent against such "treasonous" activities.

Please write immediately:

- Urging the authorities to ensure that the death sentences of the four men (naming them) are not carried out, and that all death sentences are commuted;

- Expressing concern at the allegations that Na'el Jamal Qandil Doghmosh "confessed" under torture and urging the authorities to investigate thoroughly these claims and bring anyone responsible to justice;

- Urging them to take steps to abolish the death penalty, for which no convincing evidence has ever been produced to show that it is a more effective deterrent than other forms of punishment.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 9 JULY 2012 TO:

Minister of Justice

Muhammad Faraj al-Ghoul

HAMAS DE FACTO ADMINISTRATION IN GAZA

VIA ISRAEL

Fax: 011 970 8 288 0103 -OR- 011 970 8 282 2008 -OR- 011 970 8 288 1818

Please fax before 2pm Palestine time (GMT+2) and please keep trying. 011 970 and 011 972 may both work as country codes

Salutation: Dear Mr. al-Ghoul

Head of the High Council of Justices

Abdel Raouf al-Halabi

Email: hjc27117@moj.ps

Salutation: Dear Judge al-Halabi

Prime Minister

Isma'il Abd al-Salam Ahmad Haniyeh

HAMAS DE FACTO ADMINISTRATION IN GAZA

VIA ISRAEL

Fax: 011 972 8 288 4815

Salutation: Dear Mr. Haniyeh

Also send copies to:

Chief Representative Maen Rashid Areikat

Palestine Liberation Organization Office

1320 18th St NW Suite 200

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 1 202 974 6360

Fax: 1 202 974 6278

Email: plomission1@aol.com

Twitter: @plodelegationus

Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the above date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has jurisdiction over the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, which make up the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), all of which are under Israeli military occupation. However, intra-Palestinian factional violence and tensions between Fatah and Hamas, the Palestinian party which won the last parliamentary elections in 2006, resulted in the West Bank being governed by a caretaker government appointed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas and, as of June 2007, Gaza being governed by the Hamas de facto administration led by Isma'il Haniyeh.

Following Hamas' takeover of Gaza, PA President Mahmoud Abbas suspended the operations of PA security forces and judicial institutions in Gaza, creating a legal and institutional vacuum there. Hamas responded by creating a parallel law-enforcement and judicial apparatus. These lack appropriately trained personnel, accountability mechanisms or safeguards.

Under Palestinian law, all death sentences must be ratified by President Mahmoud Abbas before they can be carried out. However, the Hamas de facto administration has been carrying out executions without the requisite approval of the president. Many of the death sentences are imposed by military courts, under the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Revolutionary Code 1979, whose procedures do not meet international standards for fair trials.

Though no executions were carried out in Gaza between 2006 and 2009, the Hamas administration is known to have executed 11 people since 2010. There are around 30 Palestinians on death row, at least some of whom have been convicted after unfair trials, particularly before the military courts. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees is routine in Gaza. During 2011, the local human rights organization the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) reported receiving over 100 allegations of torture in detention by various security agencies in Gaza and 100 allegations of torture by the police in Gaza.

Names: Na'el Jamal Qandil Doghmosh (m), F.T.W. (m), J.Z.J (m), A.M.A(m)

Issues: Legal concern, Imminent execution, Torture

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network

Amnesty International USA

600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl

Washington DC 20003

Email: uan@aiusa.org

http://www.amnestyusa.org/uan

Phone: 202.509.8193

Fax: 202.675.8566

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL

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