9 April 2023

5/2023

ICHR demands that the law not be taken into one’s own hands

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) is gravely concerned about recently increasing instances of taking the law into one’s own hands throughout Palestinian governorates. On Saturday evening, 9 April 2023, a citizen, A. Gh., was extrajudicially killed against the background of collaboration with the Israeli occupying authorities and without due process of law. The ICHR stresses that treason is an unacceptable and heinous crime, whose perpetrator must be subject to exemplary punishment in accordance with the law. The ICHR calls on the Palestinian Authority (PA) institutions and security agencies to perform their duty and bring to justice those who commit the act of treason.

The ICHR emphasises that such a charge falls within the mandate of the PA judicial and security institutions, which are competent of considering their merits. Extrajudicial killings may serve as a prelude to disorder and taking the law into one’s own hands. In this context, the ICHR calls on national factions to adopt a clear position on this conduct.

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