GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Hamas rulers executed three convicted killers and dropped off their bullet-riddled bodies at a hospital early today, despite appeals by human rights activists to halt the practice.
The U.N.’s top human rights official has said fair trials required by international law in cases involving the death penalty are virtually impossible in Gaza. The Islamic militants of Hamas seized the territory by force in 2007 from their Palestinian rivals and established a regime that allows little dissent.
Hamas began carrying out formal executions in April, and today’s killings brought the total number of prisoners put to death to five. In addition, human rights organizations have accused Hamas gunmen of killing suspected collaborators during the chaos surrounding Israel’s Gaza offensive in the winter of 2008-2009.
The Gaza Interior Ministry said the men executed today were convicted killers. Hamas-loyal news outlets said one participated in the 2003 slaying of a young woman whose body was later tossed in a garbage bin. The killing provoked widespread outrage at the time. There were no details on the other two prisoners executed.
The three bodies, riddled with bullets, were dropped off at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital at dawn today, said a medical official. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
The ministry portrayed the executions as an important deterrent. However, the killings are likely to deepen the international isolation of Hamas, branded a terrorist organization by the West.
The executions were seen as an attempt by Hamas to demonstrate control over Gaza and burnish its law-and-order credentials. With Gaza under blockade by Israel and Egypt since 2007, the Hamas government has had little to show for three years in power, except its claim that it has restored security to the once chaotic territory.
The ministry did not say how many prisoners remain on death row, and Gaza-based human rights groups said they did not have exact figures.
Palestinian law allows the death penalty, but execution orders require a signature by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has not sanctioned executions since taking power in 2005. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, Abbas has been left with only the West Bank.
Gaza-based and international human rights groups have urged Hamas to halt executions, especially of those suspected of collaborating with Israel who are tried in military tribunals. Rights groups have called the proceedings unfair, saying confessions are often obtained by torture.
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