Israel approves kangaroo court to impose death penalty on 7 Oct detainees

Members of Knesset (MKs) in Israel have passed a bill establishing a so-called ‘special tribunal’ for Palestinians detained on 7 October 2023.

The tribunal is designed to strip fair trial rights and has the power to impose death penalties on detainees.

The bill passed without a single dissenting vote. A total of 27 MKs in Israel’s parliament did not vote.

Israel MKs voted 93-0 in favour of the bill

Human rights groups in Israel and occupied Palestine say the bill removes any legal impediments to executing prisoners.

Muna Haddad, a lawyer with The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), told Al Jazeera that the bill is designed to make it easy to secure the mass conviction of Palestinians.

She said:

The bill explicitly permits mass trials that deviate from standard rules of evidence, including broad judicial discretion to admit evidence obtained under coercive conditions that may amount to torture or ill-treatment.

This constitutes a severe violation of fair trial guarantees that falls well short of international law requirements.

The provisions governing public hearings…violate the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the right to dignity. The framework effectively treats indictment as a finding of guilt, before any judicial examination has begun.

Show trials

In a move designed to humiliate those seized, the trials will be publicly broadcast, including sentencing.

Israel murdered hundreds of its own citizens on 7 October 2023 under the ‘Hannibal directive’ in repeated attacks from early morning to late at night. Israel’s then-defence minister Yo’av Gallant told a TV interviewer that he wished the IOF had killed more.

At least 200 people were detained after the raid on ‘suspicion’ of involvement, but no evidence has ever been presented against them.

Featured image via Anadolu Agency