LONDON, (PIC)
The Red Ribbons Campaign condemned in the strongest terms the continued efforts by Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to advance legislation expanding the use of the death penalty against Palestinian prisoners, particularly where it would disproportionately impact Palestinians.
The campaign issued the following press release on Saturday:
For his continued efforts to promote apartheid and racism against Palestinians, and for expressing his aims to hang Palestinian prisoners and kill them by all means, Ben Gvir has earned the 2026 grim crown as ‘World’s hangman of the century’.
We view Ben Gvir’s push towards executions as a dangerous escalation that risks entrenching irreversible punishment within a system already marked by deep inequality.
We state plainly: a man who persistently advocates for policies enabling execution under such conditions must be held to the highest level of scrutiny and accountability.
We highlight the following concerns:
● Expansion of capital punishment in a discriminatory context, raising serious doubts about equal protection and due process
● Escalation of state violence, replacing pathways to justice with irreversible outcomes
● Contradiction of global human rights trends, as more countries move toward abolition of the death penalty
● Further entrenchment of division and injustice, exacerbating tensions rather than resolving them
The Red Ribbons Campaign believes that advancing such measures reflects a broader pattern of policies that prioritise punishment over justice and power over human dignity.
We call on the international community to oppose any expansion of the death penalty and to ensure accountability for policies that risk grave human rights violations.
