The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, condemned a new Israeli law which calls for the execution of West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes. Türk said that the law is “deeply discriminatory, and must be promptly repealed.” He added, “Its application in a discriminatory manner would constitute an additional, particularly egregious violation of international law. Its application to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime.”
Israel has not used the death penalty since the 1962 execution of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
