Statement for immediate release
Published by the Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”
“SHAMS” Center appreciates the President’s decision to tighten penalties in the Firearms and Ammunition Act and demands to build and complete it
Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS” received with great satisfaction the decision by a law issued by President Mahmoud Abbas, according to which the Firearms and Ammunition Law No. (2) of 1998 was amended in an effort to increase freedom-depriving penalties and financial fines imposed for crimes related to the possession, use, trafficking and manufacture of firearms and smuggling them in violation of the law.
“SHAMS” Center confirms its principled and conservative position on resorting to Article (43) of the amended Basic Law of 2003, which gives the president the right to legislate in other than the sessions of the Legislative Council, reiterating our demands for holding general elections that restore the parliament with the inherent constitutional right of its duties and leave this exceptional situation, but we see in this step a case of necessity that cannot be delayed. We reiterate our condolences to the families of the victims who were killed as a result of the chaos of arms that turned happy occasions, including weddings, into funerals, which sparked widespread sadness and anger in the Palestinian street.
“SHAMS” Center sees this step as an important response to the demands of civil society organizations, especially human rights institutions, to amend Palestinian penal legislation and punishment, in order to achieve both private and public deterrence, which contributes to fighting crime and putting an end to it, and as a culmination of collective civic efforts aimed at strengthening the maintenance and respect of human rights. The most important of which are the right to life, strengthening the principle of the rule of law and a vision towards a civil state.
“SHAMS” Center considers the phenomenon of weapons as a partial manifestation of a holistic reality, which is the collapse of civil peace in all governorates of the homeland, which calls for us to emphasize that solutions should not be partial, but comprehensive, in a way that guarantees achieving their goals and objectives, as the solution starts from a comprehensive cross-sectoral national strategy to protect civil peace and community cohesion includes several pillars:
- Promote societal recourse to alternative means of conflict resolution and the formation of local committees for civil peace.
- Addressing the legal deficiencies in the penal legislation.
- Reforming the regular judiciary, making it swift, transparent, efficient, fair and free from suspicions of corruption.
- Fighting tribal structures and the culture it produces that initiates crime.
- Adopting economic and social policies, and not being satisfied with a security solution in dealing with crime.
- Development of a comprehensive, integrated and modern security policy that starts and is based on: the role of the security institution in protecting citizens from any external aggression, protecting human rights, respecting freedoms and preserving democratic practices, rising above political disputes, enforcing the law in accordance with international agreements and best standards, and protecting the (Basic Law Constitution) and constitutional institutions, preserving civil peace, observing transparency, integrity requirements, and systems of oversight and accountability in the work of the security components.
- Combating hate speech and incitement, particularly through digital platforms and the media