Jerusalem: Human Rights Watch condemned Thursday's executions of three men in the Gaza Strip who were accused by Hamas of collaborating with Israel, calling on the Islamist group to stop the "barbaric" practice.
The executions were carried out after Hamas vowed revenge for the mysterious killing of one of its commanders last month, which it blamed on the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and its Palestinian "collaborators".
The men who were hanged on Thursday were not implicated in his killing but were accused of past acts of "treason and collaborating," a Hamas interior ministry statement said.
"The abhorrent executions by Hamas authorities of three men in Gaza deemed to be collaborators project weakness, not strength," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
"Hamas authorities will never achieve true security or stability through firing squads or by the gallows, but rather through respect for international norms and the rule of law."
It cited data from the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights as saying that the Islamist group had now executed a total of 25 Palestinians since seizing power in the Gaza Strip in 2007.
The Palestinian Authority's Independent Commission for Human Rights said the hangings were illegal.
"These judgements were not issued by a competent national court and are based on suspicion not certainty," it said.
Comments
0 comment