Rights group urges Hamas to halt post-Eid executions

A Palestinian prisoner  at the Hamas-run Ansar prison in Gaza City London – Arab Today A rights group has urged Hamas authorities in Gaza not to go ahead with several executions they plan to carry out after this week’s Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr , saying some of the convicts may have been tortured into ‘confessing’ to crimes.
Hamas’ Attorney General announced last week that several convicted “criminals” are set to be executed in public as a “lesson”.
“This and other recent announcements by Hamas authorities that they will carry out further executions are deeply disturbing,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
“We acknowledge the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but the death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and there is no evidence that it deters crime more effectively than other punishments.”
In a press release issued on Thursday, Amnesty International said one man at risk of execution, known as H.M.A, while detained in relation to a separate case, was apparently tortured to “confess” to the rape and murder of a six-year-old boy allegedly committed when H.M.A. was under18.
“He was later sentenced to death in violation of both international standards and Palestinian law, which do not allow capital punishment for killings committed by people under 18,” the rights group said.
A 23-year-old prisoner known as F.A. is also said to have signed a “confession” under torture.
He was sentenced to death by the Central Military Court in Gaza City on 24 March 2013, for “collaboration with an enemy entity”.
Amnesty International said F.A.’s lawyer reported he had “appeared in court weeping and with a bruised face.
“He told his lawyer that he had been hung by his wrists and ankles and beaten during interrogation,” said the statement.
He is at risk of imminent execution if his appeal, scheduled for 14 August, is unsuccessful.
At least 40 prisoners face the death sentence in Gaza, where Amnesty International says torture and other ill-treatment of detainees is “widespread and systematic”.
“Public executions are degrading and compound the cruelty of the death penalty,” said Philip Luther.
“Hamas should pursue justice by prosecuting people accused of internationally recognizable crimes in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty and ensuring all allegations of torture are investigated.
“We are urging Hamas to immediately halt all executions planned for after Eid al-Fitr, and to go further by establishing a moratorium on the use of the death penalty and commuting all death sentences.”  
The Hamas administration has executed at least 16 convicts since April 2010, eight for murder and eight for “collaborating” with Israel.
Amnesty International said former prisoner Na’el Jamal Qandil Doghmosh was executed on 17 July 2012, after having apparently “confessed” to murder under torture.
His family said his nails were torn out that during interrogation in 2010, and that they saw burns and bruises on his body.   
Gaza’s last executions took place on 22 June 2013, when two men convicted of “collaborating with the enemy”, known as A.M.Gh. and H.J.Kh., were executed at the Jawazat police compound in Gaza. H.J.Kh. reportedly confessed after being tortured.