compared to the five cases documented in 2018, one in the West Bank and (4) in the Gaza
Strip, two of which were children and all of them were males.
The commission also documented (40) deaths in mysterious circumstances, (25) cases in
the West Bank and (15) cases in the Gaza Strip.25 These cases when disaggregated by
gender are as follows: (20) females and (20) males, compared to (28) females and (35)
males in 2018.
In order to protect the right to life, the Commission recommends that the Public
Prosecution Office investigates all cases of murder that occur in unnatural circumstances,
reveal the perpetrators and bring them to justice, especially the ambiguous cases that the
ICHR documented this year and previous years as well. There is a need to review all death
sentences issued in the Gaza Strip before executing them, review the legal system related
to the death penalty, in accordance with the relevant legal procedures and international
standards. There is a need for the Military Prosecution to conduct serious investigations
into allegations affecting the right to life that occur by law enforcement personnel,
especially in places of detention, as well as investigate deaths resulting from abuse of
weapons by these personnel. There is a need for the various municipal councils to exercise
their supervisory role in public and private places and to ensure the availability of public
safety precautions within the geographical areas under their jurisdiction. Additionally,
there is a need for the Energy Authority to undertake adequate monitoring, inspection and
awareness measures in order to reduce the cases of deaths that occur because of electric
shock. Furthermore, there is a need for the judicial authority, the Ministry of Interior, the
Public Prosecution and the security services in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to
disseminate information related to the measures taken in the context of realizing the right
to life, in a way that easily accessible to everyone.
The second subject: The Right not to be Subjected to Torture and Ill-treatment
The commission received (504) complaints of torture and ill-treatment in both the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip, (271) complaints in the Gaza Strip and (233) complaints in the West Bank.
These complaints included (692) allegations of torture and ill-treatment, (430) of them in the Gaza
Strip and (262) in the West Bank. These figures are very close to the allegations of torture and illtreatment documented by the Commission in the previous three years, when allegations of torture
and ill-treatment reached (676) cases in 2018, while they were (898) cases in 2017, including the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Having a response from the Public Prosecution in the Gaza Strip contributed to the decrease in the mysterious 25
cases registered in the Gaza Strip, while the failure of the Public Prosecution in the West Bank to respond to a
correspondence requesting clarifications on the deaths documented in 2019 contributed to the increase in the number
of ambiguous cases.