ICEJ NEWS - 04/08/2002
In a secret session Sunday in Gaza City, a Palestinian military court sentenced six Palestinians to death for collaborating with Israel.
One of the accused, a 15-year-old boy, had his sentence commuted to 15 years of hard labor because of his age, Palestinian officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The court ruled that the other five, adults who had been arrested over the past six months, would be executed for giving information to Israel about Palestinian security installations and details on Palestinian men who were later assassinated by Israel.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must approve the death sentences before they can be carried out.
Chances are that the 15-year-old might be killed anyway by vigilantes who take it upon themselves to carry out justice. Killings of suspected collaborators have become almost a daily occurrence in recent weeks: Last week, Palestinian militants killed 10 Palestinians in one day for allegedly cooperating with Israel. Two collaborators were dragged out of a jail in Bethlehem and executed publicly and then dragged through the city. In Jenin, eight people were taken out of jail and killed in public.
In Ramallah last month, the corpse of an accused collaborator was strung up from a monument in the center of town. And earlier this year Palestinian gunmen stormed a court session in Jenin when they heard that one of three accused collaborators was sentenced to hard labor instead of the death penalty because of his young age. The gunmen beat and killed the suspects in the bathroom and later dragged the bodies through the streets.