European nations criticize Israel’s death penalty plans

An Israeli prison service vehicle leaves the court house in Petah Tikva, Israel, Sunday, July 6, 2014. Israeli authorities on Sunday announced the arrests of several Jewish suspects in the death of Muhammed Abu Khdeir, 16, a Palestinian teenager who was abducted and killed last week, marking a major breakthrough in a case that has sparked violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Britain, France, Germany and Italy expressed “deep concern” on Sunday over Israeli plans to extend the application of the death penalty in a bill due to be voted into law next week.

Their statement came the same day the Council of Europe rights body also issued a statement against the draft law.

“We... express our deep concern about a bill that would significantly expand the possibilities to impose the death penalty in Israel and that could be voted into law next week,” said a joint statement by the countries’ foreign ministers.

“We are particularly worried about the de facto discriminatory character of the bill.

“The adoption of this bill would risk undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles.”

The far-right government is due to put its bill to a second and third reading in the Knesset -- the Israeli parliament -- on Monday. If it passes, it will almost certainly face a legal challenge and go before the Supreme Court.

Also Sunday, Council of Europe chief Alain Berset issued an appeal to Israel over the draft law.

“The Council of Europe opposes the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances,” he said.

“The texts currently under examination in the Knesset would represent a grave step backwards from Israel’s long-standing de facto moratorium,” he added, calling on the authorities to abandon the planned law.

Mandatory death sentences

While the death penalty exists for a small number of crimes in Israel, it has become a de facto abolitionist country: the last person to be executed was the Nazi Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann in 1962.

The amendment, called for by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, would introduce mandatory death sentences for certain offences.

In February, a dozen UN rights experts argued that this would introduce two tracks for the death penalty in Israel.

“By removing judicial and prosecutorial discretion, they prevent a court from considering the individual circumstances, including mitigating factors, and from imposing a proportionate sentence that fits the crime,” they said.

In the occupied West Bank, their statement said “the death penalty would be imposed by military courts under military law for terrorist acts causing the death of a person, even if not intended”.

In Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, meanwhile, capital punishment would continue to be applied only under Israeli criminal law and only for the “intentional killing of Israeli citizens or residents”.

The independent experts are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.