PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP URGES ABBAS TO STAY PA EXECUTION

the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stay the death sentence for four men convicted of raping and murdering a young girl in Gaza City. The death penalty is "an obvious violation of all norms and international conventions on human rights," the Center said in a statement. The death penalty violates the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1984 Convention Against Torture, PCHR said. According to the statement, received by Ma'an, Abbas' sign-off on the execution would amount to "cruel and inhuman judgment." The group called on the president to call off the sentence. The Center noted that its insistence that the planned execution not be carried out "should not be interpreted as tolerance for those convicted of such serious crimes." However, it added, "there must be another punishment besides execution," the statement said.