B'Tselem condemns the two executions carried out by the Palestinian Authority yesterday in Nablus and Gaza

B'Tselem opposes any governmental authority's use of the death penalty under any circumstances. The fact that in these cases the defendants were not accorded a fair trial, had no effective opportunity to defend themselves and no opportunity to appeal makes these executions especially grave.

Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, it has imposed 34 death penalties. Five people have been executed, after the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yassir Arafat ratified their death sentences.

B'Tselem calls on the Palestinian Authority to respect every individual's most basic of rights - the right to life. The PA must immediately rescind the death sentences that have been issued, and remove the death penalty from its penal code.