Gaza’s Hamas rulers execute 3 men convicted of murder

Security forces from the Islamist group Hamas executed three convicted Palestinians at dawn on Tuesday, a move condemned by local and worldwide human rights groups and likely to lead to deeper division among Palestinian factions. Hamas said it recently executed three men as a deterrent against rising crime in the beleaguered coastal region.

Since 2007, it has executed 19 others convicted of murder or collaboration.

Human rights groups and the United Nations had appealed to Hamas not to go through with the killings – arguing that Gaza’s legal system can not guarantee defendants a fair trial – and condemned the announcement they had been carried out. Worldwide human rights groups condemned the decision.

“Article 109 of the Basic Palestinian Law states that only the president can approve or deny any execution of a condemned person, as also stated in article 409 of the Penal Law #3 of 2001”, Shams Center said, “Article 408 of the same law states that whenever capital punishment becomes final, the Justice Minister must sign his approval, before sending the documents to the president”. Hamas remained the de facto authority, preventing the government from extending control over Gaza.

In 2011, Ansaf Barmoum’s husband Abed was working in his money exchange business in the Gazan town of Rafah when two men came to steal cash.

Sari Bashi, Palestine and Israel director at HRW, said Hamas authorities had been under pressure to act because of perceptions of increased crime in Gaza, including a number of grisly murders of civilians.

“We were waiting in a big hall, with some high ranking officers, nearly 200 of them, they asked me to stand up and speak my demands”, she said in Arabic.

There were indications that as many as 10 more men might be executed ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week.

“So they asked me, ‘this is your last chance to forgive him or not?’ I said no way”. Why don’t you kill him?

The Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip should halt planned executions.

According to the PCHR, nine death sentences were passed in Gaza in 2015 and two in the West Bank, run by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinian law allows the death penalty for collaborators, murderers and drug traffickers.

Most of those executed were convicted in military courts or executed summarily, without a judicial ruling, it said.