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Last update - 20:18 07/08/2008
Rights group: Hamas won`t let us visit Palestinian prisoners in Gaza
By Reuters
Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Fatah 

Hamas is preventing human rights lawyers from visiting dozens of Palestinians arrested as part of the Islamist group's crackdown on rival factions in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian rights group said.

The crackdown began after a July 25 bombing that killed five Hamas members and a girl. Hamas blamed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction for the blast, a charge Fatah denied.

Abbas's security forces have launched their own crackdown on Hamas in the occupied West Bank.
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The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) on Wednesday described the detentions as illegal and said some of the arrests had been carried out by Hamas's armed wing, the Iz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, without warrants.

Raji Sourani, the director of the PCHR, told Reuters by telephone from Gaza City that his lawyers had been prevented from visiting any of those detained by Hamas for political reasons since the crackdown began on July 26.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Thursday the PCHR report was "unfair and unbalanced" since it ignored arrest campaigns by Abbas's forces against Hamas activists in the West Bank during the same period.

Hamas later announced the release of 150 Fatah activists and officials, including senior leader Abdallah Abu Samhadana.

Hamas declined to say how many other Fatah activists it had in its custody but Fatah sources said more than 120 remained in detention.

The PCHR, citing testimony from victims, said Hamas was abusing and torturing some detainees. Last month, Palestinian rights group al-Haq said Fatah and Hamas were both guilty of failing to curb abuse and torture by their security men.

Tensions have been high between the rival factions since Hamas routed Fatah forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Abbas's Fatah still holds sway in the West Bank.

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