MIDDLE EAST: The Palestinian Authority yesterday executed four men convicted of murder in Gaza, with officials saying that the move was aimed at ending a state of lawlessness in the occupied territories.
The four men were sentenced to death by a Gaza court and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed the execution orders on Saturday. Three of the men were hanged and one was executed by firing squad.
Palestinian officials denied that the four had been found guilty of collaborating with Israel. The executions were the first since 2001 and were carried out despite criticism from human rights groups. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died last November, halted the death penalty four years ago in the face of criticism by human rights groups.
An Israeli group called B'Tselem, which chronicles abuses by the Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza, called on Mr Abbas to halt the use of capital punishment and criticised the Palestinian judicial process.
"We condemn this," said Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for the group. "It's clearly a violation of the right to life, especially in the context of the inability to receive a fair hearing."
A Gaza human rights group also criticised the lack of due process. One of the men executed, it said, was convicted and sentenced by a security court just a week after having committed his crime in September 2000.
Palestinian officials said the executions were aimed at deterring criminals and restoring law and order, which largely broke down during the intifada uprising. "There is a new policy of enforcing the law, to face and fight the chaos and lawlessness in the Palestinian territories," said an Interior Ministry spokesman, Tawfik Abu Khoussa.
During the intifada, the Palestinian Authority security services disintegrated in the face of Israeli military actions and armed groups became the dominant force in large sections of the West Bank and Gaza, often meting out their own justice.
On Saturday, some 40 armed men attacked a Palestinian Authority security headquarters in Gaza city, sparking a three-hour shoot-out with security forces.
There are currently some 50 Palestinians on death row, about half of them for collaborating with Israel.
The four men were executed just a day after the Palestinian foreign minister said that militant groups such as Hamas and the al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades would not be disarmed until Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank was over. "The dismantling of armed organisations is not on the table because weapons are legal as long as the occupation exists," said Nasser al-Kidwa.
Although Israel and the US have demanded that the Palestinian Authority move to disarm militant groups, Mr Abbas has insisted on using dialogue to draw organisations such as Hamas into the political process. Using force against militants, he has cautioned, could spark civil war.
Israel's deputy premier Ehud Olmert yesterday lashed out at the Palestinian Authority, saying Mr al-Kidwa's comments threatened attempts to renew dialogue between the sides. "All in all, it expresses their inability and unwillingness to contend with the threat that terrorism poses."