January 3, 2017

CWLRCP in Gaza condemns the heinous crimes committed on the eve of the New Year, which add to the series of violent crimes against women. A gruesome murder occurred where citizen (H.N.), 24 years old, from Jabalia city in the northern Gaza Strip, was killed on Friday, December 30, 2016. Information indicates that the perpetrator was her half-brother. Additionally, the rape of an 8-year-old girl from the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza City took place on Wednesday, December 28, 2016, and the perpetrator is a young man from the same neighborhood.

The Center expresses its deep concern regarding the increase in forms of domestic and community violence in the Gaza Strip, which has reached its peak with the increase in crimes affecting the lives of women and children. It demands that the ruling authority in the Strip bear its responsibilities by uncovering the circumstances of the two crimes, announcing the results of the investigations, and expediting the punishment of the perpetrators, in a manner that constitutes a deterrent to anyone who contemplates committing crimes, especially against women.

The Center also strongly denounces the leniency in punishing perpetrators of murder and rape against women and children, where perpetrators are treated leniently after paying blood money to the families of the murdered women. This contributes to encouraging criminals and deviants to commit crimes, as they are reassured that there are no deterrent and severe penalties against them. We firmly believe that the continued absence of deterrent laws and legislation against anyone who contemplates committing such heinous crimes will encourage the continuation of violence and violations of the rights of women and children, as if it were part of the daily behavior and customary heritage of society. Therefore, we stress the need to immediately work on reconsidering the relevant legislation, laws, and policies, in a way that ensures the consolidation of equality in rights between women and men, while providing social protection for women and children. We also call on the judiciary in the Gaza Strip to work on the immediate enforcement of Decree-Law No. (7) of 2011, issued by the President of the National Authority, regarding amending the Penal Code, which stipulates the abolition of mitigating excuses for murder and rape crimes.

We call on all political forces to expedite ending the division and restoring national unity so that the Legislative Council can return to convene as a unified council and take its role in expediting the completion of all relevant laws, foremost of which is a new Penal Code, so that it deals with the murders of women as criminal offenses against human life, regardless of gender.