Will ‘revolutionary law’ deter agents in Gaza?

Correspondents of Al Jazeera

Gaza – Competent security authorities in Gaza have activated a revolutionary court that takes swift and decisive decisions against agents who collaborate with the Israeli occupation – and who pose a threat to Palestinian society – in order to maintain security during crises and wars.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Revolutionary Court gave the accused Yasser Abu Shabaab of Rafah 10 days to surrender to the competent authorities to face trial on charges of treason, dealing with hostile parties, forming an armed gang and armed disobedience.

In the following report, Al Jazeera Net explains the circumstances that led to the adoption of the revolutionary law, its powers and the timing of its activation.

How was the revolutionary court created?

In 1979, the Palestine Liberation Organization approved Article 486 of the Revolutionary Penal Code, from which arose the Revolutionary Court to protect the Palestinian people from their state of struggle and Israeli aggression, and includes punishment for various crimes, including treason, espionage, and inciting aggression.

The law includes provisions regarding persons involved in the crime, the application of punishment to military personnel, aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and applies to all crimes committed in the Palestinian Revolutionary Areas.

Who controls the implementation of the revolutionary law?

A “revolutionary” military court associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization is authorized to administer punishment under the Revolutionary Penal Code under a specific system with special powers distinct from the civilian court system.

The names that oversee the implementation of the revolutionary law have been different since its approval, unlike the stages that the Palestinian issue has gone through, and include:

• Military Revolutionary Courts: These are associated with the liberation organization and specialize in investigating crimes committed against the “revolution”. They are composed of a court president (usually a high-ranking military officer who often has legal experience) and judges (specialized revolutionary officers or cadres) and may be deployed permanently or in the field due to combat conditions or special operations.
• Revolutionary Court System: It includes judges and courts associated with the organization’s revolutionary judicial administration, and may be a field court that issues emergency decisions at sites of operations, or a permanent court located at the headquarters of the liberation organization or its factions.
• Supreme Military Command: In specific and urgent cases, such as battles or emergency arrests, the military commander can issue field decisions or take the accused directly to a revolutionary court.

Punishments handed down by military commanders are usually preventive in nature, such as temporary imprisonment, but final punishments, such as death, are carried out only by court order.

The Revolutionary Court of Military Justice in the Gaza Strip is affiliated with the Ministry of Interior and National Security and consists of a specialized team that performs all procedures related to law enforcement.

Who implements the decisions of the Revolutionary Court?

Punishment is carried out through the military or security services associated with the liberation organization or its factions, and according to the law, special punishments such as the death penalty are not carried out except by the top leadership of the organization or the General Commissar of the Revolution in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The death penalty in Gaza is carried out through the Ministry of Interior and National Security, following the absence of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Authority in 2007.

What is the jurisdiction of the court?

The Revolutionary Court is active in very specific cases related to the Palestinian revolution and guerrilla actions, and Revolutionary Law is distinct from the civil criminal laws used in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This law is considered an exception and is used in political, military and security contexts. It is not used in regular civilian courts in Gaza, but is limited to military or revolutionary courts affiliated with Palestinian factions.

Harsh punishments are used against those suspected of collaborating with the occupation or threatening the internal security of the factions, and are carried out in quick field trials, which may not include normal civil rights such as the right to appeal, and this is one of the criticisms leveled at the law.

When will the revolutionary court be launched?

Provisions of the Revolutionary Court and the Revolutionary Criminal Code are activated in specific cases, including:

• Crimes against the Palestinian revolution, which include: bearing arms against the revolution, joining hostile forces (especially the Israeli occupation), communicating with the enemy or hostile foreign parties, publishing secrets of the revolution or leaking security information, and sabotaging the property of the revolution.
• Dealing with crimes within the military framework, which include: violations and abuses committed by members of military agencies and factions, military mutiny and insubordination within the ranks of combatants.
• Interference and participation in crimes committed against the revolution, which include: helping people fighting with the enemy, participating in hostile actions.
• Cases of Prosecution of Agents and Intelligence Agents: It is used to prosecute Palestinians or non-Palestinians accused of intelligence or collaboration with the occupation.
• Discipline in the Revolutionary Forces: This includes military misconduct and administrative corruption within the organization’s agencies.
• Cases that require field revolutionary courts and require quick decisions on battlefields or in places that conventional courts cannot reach.

What charges did the court bring to Abu Shabab?

The Revolutionary Court has brought three charges against Yasser Abu Shabaab, who leads an armed group operating under the auspices of the occupation in the eastern regions of Rafah Governorate:

• Treason and collaboration with hostile parties are contrary to Article (131) of the Revolutionary Penal Code, which stipulates that anyone who seeks or associates with a state or party hostile to the revolution, or associates with it or in carrying out aggressive actions against the revolution working on its behalf, or attempts to assist it in military operations or military operations shall be punished.
• Forming an armed group contrary to Article 176, which provides that whoever forms a terrorist group or assumes its leadership or leadership for the purpose of seizing or looting lands or funds belonging to the revolution or others, with the intention of attacking the revolutionary masses or resisting the public authorities, shall be punished by death and punished by law enforcement. Temporary hard work.
• Armed disobedience, contrary to Article 168, which provides that every act committed to provoke armed disobedience against the revolutionary authorities established by the Basic Law is punishable by death, and if disobedience occurs, the instigator and all other disobedients shall be punished by death.

What are the most notable decisions by the Gaza Revolutionary Court?

Revolutionary law has been activated against specific cases, most of which were during Israel’s wars, and the Gaza Strip has witnessed the implementation of the Revolutionary Court in several cases, most notably the execution of several agents during Israel’s war on Gaza in 2012.

The court also sentenced 4 Palestinians (3 brothers in absentia and one present) to death for spying for the Israeli occupation in 2016. He also tried and executed 3 perpetrators of the murder of Mazen Fukha, a released prisoner in Gaza and the leader of the Hamas movement.