ICJP submits sanctions recommendations of 62 Israeli lawmakers over death penalty bill

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has submitted its recommendations for sanctions against sixty-two Israeli parliamentarians and lawmakers. It’s because of their responsibility for passing and adopting the death penalty bill. The ICJP has sent its list to the foreign secretary.

Pursuant to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, the recommendation proposes that the individuals named are responsible for or engaging in serious violations of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, most notably the right to life, and the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. They should therefore be sanctioned in accordance with the current UK legislation.

The new penal law which exclusively and purposefully targets Palestinians, marks an extreme escalation in Israel’s genocidal policies against Palestinians and consolidates Israel’s apartheid judicial system, embedding racist discrimination against Palestinians into law and once again allowing Israel to violate international norms.

ICJP proposals

If the Foreign Office adopted ICJP’s sanctions recommendations, it would send a clear message to the Israeli government that the UK will not tolerate Israel’s apartheid regime and systematic discrimination of Palestinians within its legal system.

In doing so, the government would be sending a strong message that lawmakers using the law to veil illegal practices and crimes committed against a protected population including the accelerated practice of killing Palestinians, will not be tolerated.

By adopting such sanctions, the UK would be affirming its strong condemnation of Israel’s use of the death penalty against Palestinians and ensuring its commitment to the UK’s obligations under international law, particularly positive obligations towards preventing practices amounting to torture or cruel treatment.

The submission argues that the UK government should take a leading stance and sanction the proposed individuals to set a precedent in tackling grave violations of human rights. The government should not wait for evidence of the application of the death penalty bill, but should take a preventative measure towards attempting to pressure the Israeli government into repealing this law.

The expressions of concern from many Western governments since the passing of the death penalty bill is a futile response and remains, at best, perfunctory. An urgent and comprehensive sanctions package is needed to combat the growing discrimination and violation of the right to life for Palestinians by Israel.

The UK must make clear its opposition to Israel’s intentional and targeted killing of Palestinians, and its explicit apartheid legal system, that is further compounded by this death penalty law.

Órlaith Roe, ICJP’s public affairs and communications officer, said:

In apartheid South Africa, 95% of people sentenced to death were Black. Thanks to this law, in apartheid Israel, 100% of people who will be sentenced to death will be Palestinians.

Our recommendations for sanctions to the Foreign Office are crucial for the UK government to adopt if it wants to stand on the side of human rights, international norms, and equality before the law, as these are the priorities the UK government claims to care for.

The UK has both the responsibility and the leverage to act – sanctions can still serve as a preventative tool, applying real pressure before irreversible harm is done. The cost of inaction will, once again, be measured in Palestinian lives.

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