Amnesty International accuses Hamas of torturing, killing …
Posted By admin on May 29, 2015
File - In this March 30, 2015 file photo, a Palestinian girl walks next to destroyed houses, in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
Amnesty International accused Hamas militants Wednesday of abducting, torturing, and carrying out summary executions of Palestinians during last year's conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The report, the last of four released by the human rights group detailing events during the fighting, said that at least 23 Palestinians were shot and killed by Hamas, which rules Gaza, while dozens more were arrested and tortured. Amnesty said those targeted were either political rivals of Hamas, including members of the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, or people the militant group had accused of cooperating with Israel.
The report detailed one particularly brutal spate of violence, which took place this past Aug. 22.
"In one of the most shocking incidents, six men were publicly executed by Hamas forces outside al-Omari mosque ... in front of hundreds of spectators, including children," the report said. Hamas had announced the men were suspected "collaborators" who had been sentenced to death in "revolutionary courts," the rights group added.
"The hooded men were dragged along the floor to kneel by a wall facing the crowd, then each man was shot in the head individually before being sprayed with bullets fired from an AK-47," the report said of the August incident.
In one section of the report, testimony from the brother of Atta Najjar, an ex-Palestinian Authority policeman imprisoned since 2009 and killed by Hamas last August, described the violence done to him in captivity.
"His arms and legs were broken ... his body was as if youd put it in a bag and smashed it ... His body was riddled with about 30 bullets," the brother was quoted as saying. "He had slaughter marks around his neck, marks of knives ... And from behind the head - there was no brain. Empty ... It was difficult for us to carry him ... He was heavy, like when you put meat in a bag; no bones. His bones were smashed. They broke him in the prison."
The report also revealed that Hamas used abandoned areas of a hospital in Gaza City to detain, question, and torture captives, even as other parts of the facility "continued to function as a medical centre [sic]".
Hamas used the war to "ruthlessly settle scores, carrying out a series of unlawful killings and other grave abuses," Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director, charged. "These spine-chilling actions, some of which amount to war crimes, were designed to exact revenge and spread fear across the Gaza Strip."
Original post:
Amnesty International accuses Hamas of torturing, killing ...
Comments