AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

MEDIA BRIEFING

AI Index: MDE 21/002/2009

10 February 2009

Cover note

Palestinian Authority: Hamas’ deadly retribution against “collaborators”

Since the end of December 2008, during and after the three-week Israeli military offensive which killed some 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have carried out a deadly campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of “collaborating” with Israel, as well as opponents and critics, Amnesty International revealed in a new document today.

At least two dozen men have been shot dead by Hamas gunmen and scores of others have been shot in the legs, kneecapped or inflicted with other injuries intended to cause permanent disability, subjected to severe beatings which have caused multiple fractures and other injuries, or otherwise tortured or ill-treated.

Most were abducted from their homes and later dumped – dead or injured – in isolated areas, or found in the morgue of one of Gaza’s hospitals. Some were shot dead in hospitals where they were receiving treatment for injuries.

An Amnesty International fact-finding team which visited Gaza during and after the Israeli offensive recorded testimonies from a number of victims, as well as medical sources and eyewitnesses who were able to corroborate their stories. Scores of others are too afraid to speak publicly for fear of retribution by Hamas forces and militias.

Amnesty International is calling on the Hamas de-facto administration to immediately end the campaign of abuses and to agree to the establishment of an independent, impartial and non-partisan national commission of experts to investigate them.

Amnesty International researcher Donatella Rovera, who led the fact-finding team, is available for interviews in English, French, Italian and Spanish.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Nicole Choueiry, Middle East and North Africa Press Officer, on +44 7831 640 170.

To view Amnesty International’s work on the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel, please visit http://www.amnesty.org/en/gaza-crisis