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Amnesty International slams Hamas for violence, killings

Posted on May 27, 2015 By rayhanania No Comments on Amnesty International slams Hamas for violence, killings
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Amnesty International, which has been blasted by Israel as “biased” “anti-Semitic” and “wrong,” released a report Israelis are now touting relentlessly which slams Hamas for a wave of Arab-on-Arab violence, targeting Palestinians who allegedly spied for Israel. The violence, however, is appalling.

But while Palestinians acknowledge their vices, Israelis continue to close a blind eye to the continued vicious violence by the Israeli military and Israeli terrorist settlers. The release was reported by almost every news media around the world, unlike Amnesty reports condemning Israeli war crimes, which are denounced by the few media that report it as “anti-Semitism.”

Amnesty International Released the following statement and report this week:

‘Strangling Necks’: Abduction, Torture and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas Forces During the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict

New Amnesty International Report released details Arab-on-Arab violence by Hamas during last summer's Israel war in the Gaza Strip
New Amnesty International Report released details Arab-on-Arab violence by Hamas during last summer’s Israel war in the Gaza Strip. Photo from Amnesty International’s website www.Amnesty.org

Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel and others during Israel’s military offensive against Gaza in July and August 2014, according to a new report by Amnesty International.

‘Strangling Necks’: Abduction, Torture and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas Forces During the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict highlights a series of abuses, such as the extrajudicial execution of at least 23 Palestinians and the arrest and torture of dozens of others, including members and supporters of Hamas’s political rivals, Fatah.

“It is absolutely appalling that, while Israeli forces were inflicting massive death and destruction upon the people in Gaza, Hamas forces took the opportunity to ruthlessly settle scores, carrying out a series of unlawful killings and other grave abuses,” said Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.

“In the chaos of the conflict, the de facto Hamas administration granted its security forces free rein to carry out horrific abuses including against people in its custody. These spine-chilling actions, some of which amount to war crimes, were designed to exact revenge and spread fear across the Gaza Strip.”

Many of these unlawful killings were publicly billed as attacks against people assisting Israel during the July and August 2014 conflict as part of an operation, codenamed “Strangling Necks,” to target “collaborators.” However, in reality, at least 16 of those executed had been in Hamas custody since before the conflict broke out. Many had been awaiting the outcome of their trials when they were taken away from prison and summarily executed.

Hamas forces also abducted, tortured or attacked members and supporters of Fatah, their main rival political organization within Gaza, including former members of the Palestinian Authority security forces.

Not a single person has been held accountable for the crimes committed by Hamas forces against Palestinians during the 2014 conflict, indicating that these crimes were either ordered or condoned by the authorities.

“Instead of upholding justice, the Hamas authorities and leadership have continuously encouraged and facilitated these appalling crimes against powerless individuals. Their failure to even condemn the unlawful killings, abduction and torture of perceived suspects leaves them effectively with blood on their hands,” said Luther.

Atta Najjar, a former police officer under the Palestinian Authority who has a mental disability, was serving a 15-year prison term imposed by a military court after he was arrested in 2009 and subsequently convicted of “collaborating” with Israel. On August 22, 2014, he was taken out from the prison and executed.

“There were marks of torture and bullet shots on his body. His arms and legs were broken…his body was as if you’d put it in a bag and smashed it… His body was riddled with about 30 bullets. 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,” said his brother, who retrieved the body from al-Shifa hospital morgue on August 22, 2014.

Eight detainees were still on trial charged with “collaboration” with Israel at the time of their executions. Six others had been awaiting the outcome of appeals against death sentences from a military court in Gaza on the same charges. Two others had been convicted and were serving prison terms when they were executed. Many had been sentenced after trials before courts whose proceedings are grossly unfair. A number had said they had been tortured in order to extract “confessions.”

Ibrahim Dabour, an insurance company employee and father of two children, was held at Katiba Prison in Gaza City standing trial before a military court on a charge of “communicating with hostile sides” when he was taken out and extrajudicially executed by firing squad on August 22, 2014.

“We were told about the execution by people around us at 1pm. There was no official notification. He was executed at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. My brother received a text message at 10:31 p.m. that night saying ‘The judgement against Ibrahim Dabour has been carried out according to the Shari’a as per the ruling of the Revolutionary Court,’” his brother told Amnesty International.

“Even if he had been sentenced to death, there would have been an appeals process and other alternatives. What they have done is nothing to do with justice, it’s just criminal. These are the actions of militias,” he said.

In one of the most shocking incidents six men were publicly executed by Hamas forces outside al-Omari mosque on August 22 in front of hundreds of spectators including children. Hamas announced the men were suspected “collaborators” who had been sentenced to death in “revolutionary courts.” 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 Hamas leadership repeatedly calls for rights and justice for Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere. But they do not always act in a manner that reflects respect for rights, justice and the rule of law. By failing to halt such grave violations, the Hamas authorities are dragging the name of justice through the mud and condoning these appalling crimes,” said Luther.

As well as carrying out unlawful killings, others abducted by Hamas were subjected to torture, including severe beatings with truncheons, gun butts, hoses and wire or held in stress positions. Some were interrogated and tortured or otherwise ill-treated in a disused outpatient’s clinic within the grounds of Gaza City’s main al-Shifa hospital. At least three people arrested during the conflict accused of “collaboration” died in custody.

“Hamas forces have displayed a disregard for the most fundamental rules of international humanitarian law. Torture and cruel treatment of detainees in an armed conflict is a war crime. Extrajudicial executions are also war crimes. The de facto administration in Gaza must send a message to all law enforcement forces to treat prisoners humanely at all times. All allegations of extrajudicial execution and torture must be impartially and independently investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice in fair trials,” said Luther.

Amnesty International is calling on the Palestinian authorities, including the Hamas de facto administration in Gaza, to co-operate with independent and impartial international investigative mechanisms, judicial or non-judicial, including the Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council in July 2014. They should seek to ensure that the cases documented in this report, among others, are investigated impartially and independently and that, wherever there is sufficient admissible evidence, suspected perpetrators are brought to justice in proceedings that fully respect international fair trial standards and without recourse to the death penalty.

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rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

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Arab World, Editors Picks, Israel, News, Palestine & Jordan Tags:2014 Israeli war, Amnesty International, Gaza Strip, Hamas killings, Israel, terrorism, violence, war crimes

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