Spain condemns the expansion of the death penalty in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories

Eduardo González The Spanish government condemned on Tuesday the Israeli parliament's approval of a law that will significantly expand the application of the death penalty in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. "Spain categorically rejects the content of this draconian law, which is clearly discriminatory against the Palestinian population," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release. "This discrimination is extremely serious, as it enshrines legal inequality between people on a matter that directly affects the fundamental right to life," it warned. Furthermore, this law "expands the number of crimes punishable by death and eliminates basic due process guarantees" and implies "the illegal exercise of Israeli jurisdiction in the Occupied Territory belonging to the State of Palestine, which is especially serious given the application of capital punishment," the statement continued. Therefore, Spain reiterates “its firm rejection of the death penalty in all cases and circumstances, considering it a cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment that has no proven deterrent effect and causes irreparable harm in the event of judicial error.” For his part, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, wrote on social media this Tuesday that “the Government of Spain condemns the death penalty against Palestinians that the Israeli Parliament has just approved.” “This is an asymmetrical measure that would not be applied to Israelis who commit the same crimes. Same crime, different punishment. That is not justice. It is another step towards apartheid. The world cannot remain silent,” he added. The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) approved a legal reform this Monday that will allow the application of the death penalty by hanging to those convicted of terrorist murder. The text was passed at the initiative of the Jewish supremacist party of Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. To date, Israel only applied the death penalty in exceptional circumstances and for war crimes or genocide. In fact, the death penalty has only been used once, in 1962, with the execution of Adolf Eichmann for his role in the Holocaust. Several NGOs and UN experts have warned that, given that West Bank Palestinians accused of terrorism are tried by Israeli military courts and that the new law compels these courts to impose the death penalty in such cases, the new law will be applied almost systematically against Palestinians by military courts that offer few guarantees.

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