https://arab.news/5zvwe
With almost no one noticing, Israel passed a law on May 12 establishing a special court to try about 400 Palestinians from Gaza accused of involvement in the Oct. 7 attack on the Gaza envelope. The new judicial structure is devoid of the normal checks and balances that a fair system of justice is expected to provide to persons presumed innocent until proven guilty. This decision would implement yet another racist and controversial discriminatory law that applies capital punishment only to Palestinians. The law does not apply retroactively, and Israel has refused to try those detained to date, so as to apply capital punishment en masse.
Israeli human rights groups have spoken out against the new law, opposing the principle of capital punishment, but also warning against “show trials” based on confessions allegedly extracted under torture. The law would relax legal procedures, lowering the bar of military courts, which have a conviction rate over 99 percent of the cases almost all based on confessions derived under torture.
Human rights groups have said that the law does not allow for basic legal procedures designed to protect defendants’ rights. They expect some hearings to be held without the defendants being physically present. “Government coalition members have made it clear that they expect mass executions to result from this court that they’ve established,” said Sari Bashi, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.
