Human Rights Watch on Wednesday, October 3 accused Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement of “extensive” rights violations, including torture, warrantless and arbitrary arrests, and unfair trials, Agence France Presse reported. In a report entitled “Abusive System: Criminal Justice in Gaza,” the New York-based watchdog alleged that Hamas security services also failed to inform relatives of the whereabouts of detainees, and had arrested and abused lawyers. “After five years of Hamas rule in Gaza, its criminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainees’ rights, and grants impunity to abusive security services,” HRW’s deputy Middle East director Joe Stork said. The report also criticized the use of military courts to try civilians, and noted that several people had been executed after military trials resulted in death sentences, despite credible evidence they had been tortured. Rights groups and activists have long accused Hamas of various rights violations.