By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – Four months ago, in November, seven Palestinian prisoners, who were believed to have been spies for Israel, were publicly killed and dragged through the streets for all to see. Gaza’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promised to

look into the deaths. Hamas’s deputy leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk said that the killings were unlawful, and that the murderers would be brought to justice.

International human rights group, Human Rights Watch, says that the promises to bring about justice were falsehoods. Hamas has denied the claims of Human Rights Watch. Hamas claims that the men who were killed had already been convicted by a military court before they were taken and killed. Additionally, Ihab al-Ghusain, Hamas spokesman, has claimed that the prosecutor general set up an inquiry into the murders immediately after the incident.

Human Rights Watch believes that there was injustice present at every stage of the treatment of these seven men. Their belief is that the evidence that was used to convict the seven was obtained through the illegal means of torture.

Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, Sarah Whitson exclaimed that, “even before the killings, the abuses the men suffered made the criminal justice system a travesty, regardless of their guilt or innocence.”

Furthermore, “Hamas’s inability or unwillingness to investigate the brazen murders of seven men makes a mockery of its claims that it’s upholding the rule of law in Gaza,” said Whitson.

She ultimately suggests that, “Hamas should be taking concrete steps to reform the criminal justice system and break the cycle of impunity that, as these men’s cases show, lets torturers and killers roam free.”

Human Rights Watch’s report came out on Thursday, when the amnesty period for Israeli collaborators to turn themselves in to the Palestinian authorities would come to an end. Security forces are now expected to be making sweeping arrests of alleged collaborators.

Hopefully anyone now arrested as a collaborator will be treated in conformity with justice and not tortured, killed, and paraded around town being dragged by motorcyclists.

Besides for collaborators, Hamas has also been looking to capture Israeli soldiers working the border in order to broker prisoner exchanges with Israel. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service has said that since 2013, there have been thirty-three reported kidnapping attempts compared to just twenty-four in all of 2012.

For further information, please see:

United Press International – HRW: Hamas did not Probe Palestinian ‘Collaborator’ Deaths as Promised – 12 April 2013

BBC – Hamas Failed to Probe Palestinian ‘Collaborator’ Deaths – 11 April 2013

Jewish Press – Human Rights Watch Slamming Hamas for Ignoring Public Murders – 11 April 2013

New York Daily News – Human Rights Watch Slams Hamas for Failing to Investigate the Slaying of Seven Palestinians who Were Dragged Through the Streets of Gaza – 11 April 2013