PLO condemns Hamas military wing for execution in Gaza Strip
Feb. 9, 2016 4:00 P.M. (Updated: Feb. 9, 2016 5:48 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=770205

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- A PLO official on Tuesday condemned an execution
carried out by the military wing of Hamas on one of its members as
“unlawful,” calling for an end to capital punishment under Palestinian law.

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement the
committee “strongly denounced” the death sentence carried out by the
Al-Qassam Brigades on Mahmoud Rushdi Shteiwi, who was executed on Sunday for
what the militant group described as "behavioral and moral misconducts.”

Ashrawi criticized the brigades for carrying out the execution on the
grounds that the ratification of death sentences is the sole right of the
Palestinian Authority president according to Palestinian law.

Such approval is sidestepped by Hamas, who does not recognize the legitimacy
of PA president President Mahmoud Abbas. The ultimate decision to issue
Shteiwi the death penalty was made by the “Military and Sharia Judiciaries
of al-Qassam Brigades.”

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) reported Monday that Shteiwi
had initially been detained by Hamas security forces on Jan. 21 and
interrogated on charges of “collaboration with the Israeli forces,
misappropriation of funds and behavioral excesses.”

Under Palestinian law, willful, premeditated murder and treason as well as
collaboration with the enemy -- usually Israel -- are punishable by death.

PCHR called for an investigation into Shteiwi’s death sentence by the PA
Attorney-General, echoing the PLO’s demand that investigations and
convictions should be carried out by “competent authorities” in accordance
with Palestinian law.

“Prosecuting collaborators with the Israeli forces is necessary, and the
Palestinian armed groups play an important role in such prosecution,” PCHR
said in a statement.

The group continued: “However, only official authorities should open
investigations and hold the perpetrators to account.

“Thus, the whole case should have been referred to the competent authorities
that would have assumed their responsibilities, maintained the prestige of
the official institutions, guaranteed justice and avoided confusion,” PCHR
said.

The group called Shteiw’s death sentence an “extrajudicial execution.”

PLO official Ashrawi also on Tuesday called for the repeal of capital
punishment from Palestinian law, calling the measure a” blatant violation of
the right to life.”

The official pointed to international agreements and conventions that
Palestinians acceded to in 2014 that ban the death penalty, calling on Hamas
to abide by the agreements.

European Union missions based in the occupied Palestinian territory
condemned in August 2015 the use of capital punishment by Palestinian
leadership.

PCHR at the time reported over 160 death sentences had been issued by
Palestinian courts since 1994. Over 80 percent of the sentences were carried
out in the Gaza Strip, the remainder taking place in the occupied West Bank
in courts run by the Palestinian Authority.