The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) expresses grave concern regarding two bills advancing in the Knesset that seek to permit capital punishment.

The first bill, ‘Penal Law Bill (Amendment No. 159) (Death Penalty for Terrorists), 2025’, seeks to allow for the application of the death penalty by amending Israeli Penal Law 5737-1977 and the Security Provisions Order that Israel applies to the occupied West Bank. Under the amendments to the Penal Law (as of 15 March), those convicted of intentional killing ‘with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel’ shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment by Israeli civilian courts in Israel. Under the amendments to the Security Provisions Order, those convicted of intentional killing that constitutes an act of terrorism as defined in the Counter-Terrorism Law 5776-2016 shall be sentenced to death or, if the military court finds that ‘special circumstances’ exist that render it appropriate, life imprisonment. The Bill was approved by the National Security Committee on Tuesday 24 March and will now be tabled for the second and third plenary readings in the Knesset, which are expected to be held in the coming days.

The second bill, ‘Bill Prosecuting Participants in Massacres of October 7, 5776–2026’, seeks to permit resort to the death penalty in an ad hoc military court for trials related to the attacks of 7 October 2023. It was approved by the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee and advanced to the Knesset plenum on Tuesday 24 March for its second and third readings.

The bills raise significant concerns from an international human rights law perspective including, among others, fair trial rights and due process. For example, regarding ‘Penal Law Bill (Amendment No. 159) (Death Penalty for Terrorists), 2025’ (version as of 15 March):

• The death penalty can be imposed without the prosecution requesting or supporting its imposition (Articles 3(a)(f)(1) and 5).
• In the occupied West Bank:
  • A defendant may be tried in a military court (Article 3(b)), courts which have been found to systematically fail to meet international fair trial standards.
  • The death penalty can be imposed by a simple majority of military judges (rather than a unanimous sentence) (Article 3(a)(f)(2)).
  • The Commander of IDF Forces shall not be permitted to mitigate, commute, or pardon a death sentence (Article 3(a)(g)).
• A final death sentence must be carried out within 90 days (Article 6(a)). The Prime Minister may apply to the court to postpone for up to a further 180 days if “special reasons” exist (Article 6(b)).
• Persons sentenced to death are limited to meeting with two lawyers at most (Article 54(b)).

As the United Nations Human Rights Committee has highlighted, scrupulous respect of fair trial guarantees is particularly important in capital trials. The imposition of the death penalty after a trial in which the fair trial provisions of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) have not been respected renders the sentence arbitrary and a violation of the right to life under Article 6, ICCPR.

This risk is heightened by reports of coercive practices in security-related cases, which can amount to torture or other ill-treatment and lead to unreliable information, false confessions, wrongful convictions, and serious miscarriages of justice. However, allegations of such a nature often take considerable time to come to light due to various factors, including psychological trauma, fear of reprisals, and legal and procedural barriers. As the UN Human Rights Committee has emphasised, criminal convictions resulting in the death penalty that are based on information procured by torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment violate Articles 7 (prohibition of torture and ill-treatment), 14(3)(g) (right not to be compelled to testify against oneself), and 6 (right to life), ICCPR.

Additionally:

• Regarding the intentional element contained in the Bill, the UN Human Rights Committee held in its General Comment No 36 that the imposition of the death penalty cannot be based on ‘vaguely defined criminal provisions, whose application to the convicted individual depend on subjective or discretionary considerations, the application of which is not reasonably foreseeable’.
• As well as the framing of the criminal provisions applying primarily to Palestinian suspects, the Bill also explicitly excludes Israeli citizens or residents in its application in the occupied West Bank (Article 3(a)(j)). As per General Comment No. 36, the death penalty must not be imposed in a discriminatory manner contrary to the requirements of Articles 2(1) (non-discrimination) and 26 (equality before the law), ICCPR; any deprivation of life based on discrimination in law or fact is ipso facto arbitrary in nature.

Furthermore, Israel has an obligation under Article 6(6), ICCPR, to be on an irrevocable path towards complete eradication of the death penalty, de facto and de jure; it is contrary to the object and purpose of Article 6 for State parties to take steps to increase the extent to which they resort to the death penalty.

The IBAHRI urges Israel to withdraw both death penalty bills in line with its obligations under international law and the global trend towards abolition.

According to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, of which the IBAHRI is a member, 145 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. Specifically, 113 countries have abolished it for all crimes, ten have abolished it for ordinary crimes and 22 are considered abolitionist in practice. Israel is currently classified as abolitionist for ordinary crimes only, with its last execution dating back to 1962.

ENDS

Contact: IBAHRI@int-bar.org

Notes to the Editor

1. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous entity working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
2. Find the IBAHRI on social media here:
   • x.com/IBAHRI
   • bsky.app/profile/ibahri.bsky.social
   • www.facebook.com/IBAhumanrights
   • www.linkedin.com/in/iba-human-rights-institute/
3. The International Bar Association(IBA),the global voice of the legal profession , is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, with the aim of protecting and promoting the rule of law globally, the IBA was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.

Website page link for this news release:
Short link: tinyurl.com/bdet6xd7
Full link: www.ibanet.org/Israel-IBAHRI-condemns-death-penalty-bills