UN representative condemns Hamas executions

A United Nations representative condemns the Tuesday execution by Hamas of three Palestinian men convicted of murder.

Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says the incident occurred “despite serious and widespread concerns that international fair trial standards were not respected.”

The Hamas Interior Ministry in Gaza announced in a press release that two of the men were charged with murder during separate robberies, and were sentenced to hang. The other executed man, charged with murdering someone who had accused him of owing a financial debt, was sentenced to death by firing squad. The sentences were passed down between the years of 2011 and 2014.

Tuesday’s executions are scheduled to be the first in a series of such measures. On May 22, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya announced that a total of 13 executions were planned, mostly connected to murders during robberies.

— with AFP