New unity government to review Hamas laws in Gaza

Fuente: 
Al Monitor
Fecha de publicación: 
23 Mayo 2014

All legislation and legal amendments that have been introduced to Palestinian law since Hamas took power of the Gaza Strip in 2007 will be thoroughly debated following the formation of the consensual government — which is still under discussion — according to Hassan Khreisheh, the second deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Khreisheh told Al-Monitor that the laws, amendments and decrees put forth by Hamas in Gaza, and the ones issued by President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, will be discussed during the new parliamentary session that will gather all members of parliament (MPs) of all factions for the first time since the Palestinian split, aiming to unify the legal environment on both sides. Khreisheh said that this session will be held upon the invitation of Abbas, a month after the formation of the consensual government.

The Hamas movement won a large majority in the PLC in the 2006 elections. However, the movement’s military takeover of Gaza in mid-2007 disrupted the PLC sessions that used to be held uniformly between Gaza and the West Bank. As a result, the PLC only convened in Gaza and was boycotted by the rest of the parliamentary blocs, notably Fatah.

A source in the parliamentary bloc of Fatah, who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, said that since mid-2007, the Hamas parliamentary bloc has issued 20 laws and amendments to Palestinian law, during the unilateral sessions that included Hamas-affiliated MPs only. The legislation and laws affected the civil rule, and education in particular.

According to the director of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, Salah Abdel-Ati, all these Hamas laws are “illegal” and were rejected by human rights organizations in Gaza, as they come in the context of “consolidating the division.” He told Al-Monitor that they were issued in the absence of the quorum necessary for the PLC to convene and were implemented without the president's approval.

“We have reservations on these laws, and we consider them to be illegal, as they consolidate the division and did not have the consent of two-thirds of the PLC members. They were also issued without the approval of the president, which is necessary,” Abdel-Ati said.

On May 17, 2009, the Hamas parliamentary bloc — the Change and Reform Bloc — adopted three important laws after amending them, which were related to the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Law Reform and Rehabilitation Centers.

Moreover, on March 31, 2013, the Hamas government passed a new education law that promotes gender segregation starting at the age of nine in Gaza schools and prohibits men from teaching at girls schools.

On March 27, Xinhua News Agency said that the Hamas parliamentary bloc was “considering the adoption of a penal code based on Islamic Law, which includes punishments such as flogging.”

For Abdel-Ati, the laws that were passed during the years of division “were based on an ideology aimed at Islamizing society and were not implemented in the entire Palestinian territories because of the political divide.”

“Everything that took place during the division was not related to the law. However, these events aimed at imposing new realities on the ground.”

For his part, Yehya Moussa, an MP with the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, said, “Issuing legal amendments and laws was not exclusive to Gaza. Abbas issued about 70 decrees and laws during the period of division. He had no right to do so because his term in office had expired.”

Moussa, who is a leader in the Hamas movement, told Al-Monitor, “According to the Palestinian law, the PLC has the right to issue laws until the election of a new council, while the president is not allowed to issue any decree after the end of his term.”

However, he confirmed that his bloc is ready to discuss the laws that passed in Gaza and the West Bank during the parliamentary session that is scheduled to be held between Gaza and the West Bank, and which will include MPs of all factions.

Khreisheh talked about the possible scenarios that could play out during the discussions. “These laws will be subject to two options: they will either be approved by the majority of the MPs or rejected,” he said.

He believes that both blocs, Hamas and Fatah, will work on mobilizing their MPs, and attracting MPs from other factions and independents to vote in favor or against certain laws.

The Fatah source said it is not likely for his bloc to approve the amendments and laws created by Hamas, especially with regard to the amendments of the Penal Code. He added that given the difficult conditions that plagued the PLC during the years of division, “these laws do not reflect the views of all Palestinians or the will of Palestinian society.”

“The PLC has faced many obstacles since the 2006 legislative elections, mainly because of the division. This has disrupted its work, based on Abbas' decision, and prevented it from undertaking its two main functions: legislation and oversight,” Abdel-Ati said.

This is why the laws that were issued in the Gaza Strip and West Bank were not inclusive for both parties. “Hamas has been working on issuing laws without a quorum. There was no real oversight on the authorities. The many violations on the part of both governments in Gaza and the West Bank, without any monitoring by the PLC, are further proof of this lack of oversight on the authorities,” he said.

Abdel-Ati stressed the need to review these laws accurately and thoroughly to ensure they respect the human rights mentioned in Palestinian law. “I believe it is necessary to freeze these laws and stop their effects, reconsider them and omit the articles that are in direct conflict with the human rights stated in Palestinian law.”


Source/Fuente:
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/05/gaza-hamas-laws-review-unity-government-reconciliation.html#ixzz32lSbXPFh