PCATI’s tenacious fight against the death penalty

Dear Friends,

It’s a sad day at the Public Committee Against Torture (PCATI). And I’ve never been prouder.

Last night, the Israeli Knesset passed a racist law authorizing the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing for nationalistic reasons. It establishes death by hanging as the default punishment for those crimes, exempting Israeli Jews from its application, and applies inside Israel as well as within the military justice system in the occupied West Bank, where the conviction rate is 96 percent, and due process is nonexistent. Torture and other forms of ill treatment are systematic against Palestinian security detainees, meaning that this law threatens to take survivors of torture – and execute them based on confessions extracted through torture.

The law is an official stamp of approval on a policy of vengeance and racist violence against Palestinians. Its passage was a blow to PCATI staff members who have spent the last few months working tirelessly to thwart the bill.

For our joint analysis of the law, click here

And yet I have never been prouder of PCATI and of the coalition of human rights groups we mobilized to fight the bill. We garnered international opposition to this racist law, which contradicts the global trend toward abolishing the death penalty, and we built a foundation to fight its implementation. Our tireless advocacy abroad and media saturation contributed to strong statements by EU foreign ministers, including close allies of Israel, UN special rapporteurs and Council of Europe officials warning of consequences from the law’s passing. Our appeals to the Knesset committee and mobilization of opposition lawmakers are strengthening our joint legal challenge to the law, which we hope will slow its implementation. We are building on our strong international networks to increase pressure to avoid creating this machinery of death.

For our joint statement following the law’s passage, click here

The Israeli government pushed through this law in marathon Knesset hearings held late into the night, as missiles rained down and residents raced for shelter. Our public department director, Dr. Noam Gelman Hofstadter, went back and forth between the laptop he used to make comments via Zoom to the Knesset committee and the neighborhood public shelter, where he took his children several times each day. Our international advocacy coordinator Birte Brodkorb sent briefings and mobilized diplomats from her temporary place of shelter in the desert, while tending to her young kids whose kindergartens were closed. Other staff members shared content, gave interviews, coordinated legal action and wrote social media posts, as loud booms of interceptions and falling debris challenged their concentration.

Your support is what allows us to do this critical work – even under difficult circumstances. Please consider contributing to PCATI – to our vision of a world where everyone’s dignity, autonomy and freedom are respected, because good people are fighting a good fight.

Donate Now

Wishing a joyous Passover and Easter to those of you celebrating.

Best regards,

Sari Bashi
Executive Director

הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל | لجنة مناهضة التعذيب

https://stoptorture.org.il

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel is proud of the support and funding it receives from private donors, funds, governments and professional entities. The majority of PCATI's funding comes from foreign political entities; for further details, visit our website

اللجنة العامة لمناهضة التعذيب في إسرائيل هي منظمة لحقوق الإنسان، تعمل منذ عام 1990 من أجل القضاء على التعذيب في إسرائيل. نحن ندافع عن الذين تعرضوا للأذى أثناء التحقيقات، والمظاهرات، والاعتقال، وفي السجون وغيرها؛ ونمثل الإسرائيليين والفلسطينيين واللاجئين والمهاجرين الذين تعرضوا للتعذيب والمعاملة اللاإنسانية والقاسية والمهينة من قبل السلطات الإسرائيلية - جهاز الأمن العام، والشرطة الإسرائيلية، والجيش وغيرها. تفخر اللجنة بالدعم والتمويل الذي تتلقاه من أفراد ومؤسسات وحكومات وهيئات مهنية. ويأتي معظم التمويل من كيانات سياسية أجنبية. تفاصيل إضافية عن أنشطتنا تظهر على الموقع الإلكتروني.

This email was sent to sari@stoptorture.org.il