16 June 2005 - Members of the European Parliament’s delegation to Palestine have called on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to declare a moratorium on the use of the death penalty after four men were executed in Gaza last Sunday.

Green MEP Caroline Lucas, who is a member of the Palestine delegation, and served as an EU observer during Mahmoud Abbas’s election in January, called on the president to maintain the moratorium established by his predecessor Yasser Arafat.

“Individual Palestinians as well as international NGOs and human rights associations have expressed their clear opposition to the death penalty,” said Dr Lucas, South-East England’s MEP.

“During their current struggle for peace and independence the Palestinian people need to remain united and show Israel and the rest of the world that a Palestinian state would be a beacon of excellence with an exemplary attitude to defending human rights.

“To do this the Mahmoud Abbas must respect the optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits the use of the death penalty.”

Dr Lucas made her comments after the president of the European Parliament’s Palestine delegation, Adamos Adamou, condemned the recent executions – but reiterated the delegation’s commitment to helping achieve a final and peaceful settlement of the Middle East dispute.

ENDS