Rights group: Hamas abusing Palestinians in Gaza

An international rights group said Wednesday that Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip commit rampant abuses against Palestinian prisoners, including beatings with metal clubs and rubber hoses, mock executions and arbitrary arrests, and urged the Islamic militant group to swiftly reform its criminal justice system.                  

In a new 43-page report, Human Rights Watch documented a long list of abuses that it said Palestinians in Gaza endure under the justice system run by Hamas, which has ruled the seaside strip for the past five years.                           

Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 after street battles with the Palestinian's Western-backed secular Fatah party. Since then the Palestinians have been split between Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, which governs the West Bank.                            

In a statement, Hamas' Interior Ministry denied the allegations and accused HRW of political bias.                            

Human Rights Watch said it based its conclusions on interviews with individuals who have been subject to abuse and their families, as well as lawyers, judges and Palestinian rights groups in Gaza.                     In its report, HRW alleged that such practices were not limited to suspected political offenses.                              

Human Rights Watch urged Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to reform Gaza's criminal justice system to end arbitrary arrests, ensure that civilians be tried in civilian courts only, that he vow to ban torture and make other amendments to protect human rights.  


AP