The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, issued a formal demand on Wednesday calling for Israel to abolish the newly passed legislation to prosecute terrorists who took part in the Hamas led massacres of October 7, 2023.
The legislation, which was approved by a 93-MK majority, establishes a new military tribunal specifically established to prosecute October 7 terrorists. The legislation sets the maximum penalty at death.
Furthermore, a dramatic reservation proposed by MKs Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party) and Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu) was approved, stipulating that terrorists tried under this framework will never be released from prison, even as part of future exchange deals.
Commissioner Turk claimed that while accountability for the October 7 atrocities is necessary, the proposed legal mechanism fails to meet global judicial requirements.
"There must be full accountability for these horrific attacks, but this cannot be achieved through trials that fall short of international standards," Turk stated, as quoted by the AFP news agency. "This law must be overturned. This law will inevitably institutionalize one-sided justice and discrimination against Palestinians, which cannot be in anyone's interest and runs counter to international human rights law."
In a sharp rebuttal, Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva dismissed the High Commissioner's concerns.
In a statement provided to AFP, the mission suggested that Turk’s office should focus its efforts on officially designating Hamas as a terrorist organization rather than criticizing Israel's judicial process.
The mission urged the UN to "cease blaming Israel for seeking justice for victims."
Israeli officials clarified that the decision to utilize a military court was a direct result of the unprecedented scale of the crimes and the massive volume of evidence involved. The mission further emphasized that the new law remains within established legal boundaries.
“The law does not alter substantive criminal law, create new offences or penalties, establish retroactive criminal liability, or impose a mandatory death sentence", the mission noted.