The PA crackdown on Palestinian journalists and activists shows contempt for international law

The Palestinian Authority’s bizarre crackdown on Palestinian journalists and human rights activists continues, with the security forces exhibiting a preference for a steady supply of detainees. Following the three-day detention and release of Ayman Qawasmeh, the director of Manbar Al-Hurriya radio station who called for the resignation of PA officials in a Facebook post, the authority’s security services have now detained Issa Amro, a Hebron based activist who also denounced the PA on Facebook with regard to its violations of international law and insistence that journalists refrain from publicising the arrest of Qawasmeh.

Amro was arrested on Sunday by the PA security forces, whose repressive measures are now backed by the Cyber Crimes Law passed by presidential decree. The law, which was criticised for its ambiguity and abundance of loopholes, enables the PA to stifle any form of dissent and functions as an extension of Israeli repression against Palestinian journalists. According to the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), the PA security forces have extended Amro’s detention and have given no reason for his arrest. Meanwhile, Amro himself has announced an open-ended hunger strike in protest.

Israel is also prosecuting Amro in the Ofer military court, where he faces 18 charges, some of which are not internationally recognised as crimes and date back to 2010, according to a report by Amnesty International. Amro’s involvement in Youth Against Settlements provides a motive for both Israel and the PA due to the inherent lack of accountability surrounding the colonisation process.

The legislation backing Mahmoud Abbas’s crackdown on journalists and activists allows the prosecution and punishment of individuals managing news platforms “that would endanger the integrity of the Palestinian state” as well as people who propagate “the news mentioned above by any means.” Article 4 of the legislation also stipulates that individuals abusing any information technology can be fined, imprisoned or, in the case of access affecting government data, a minimum of five years hard labour as well as a fine.

Read: Calls for PA to stop arresting journalists

Amro’s detention signifies the PA’s intent to disrupt cohesion among Palestinian journalists. Sowing discord and uncertainty among journalists is achieved by the imposition of vague definitions which have the scope of allowing the PA freedom of interpretation depending on the type of repression it seeks to impose. Under international human rights law, the PA is obliged to safeguard the right to freedom of expression and dissemination of information. By including clauses that are subject to selective interpretation, the PA is proving itself to be in contempt of international law, thus sending the message to Palestinians that their struggle against injustice has widened permanently.

While the international community has in this case voiced its concerns over Amro’s detention – because his activism placed him in a more prominent position – not all journalists targeted by Abbas can be assured of such exposure. Neither does international exposure guarantee a reversal of the human rights violations which the PA is inflicting upon the Palestinian people. The bottom line is that the distinction in violations against Palestinian journalists and activists no longer exists or carries different levels and implications; the perpetrators’ discretion has overruled any concept of rights. Since both Israel and the PA are pursuing similar tactics as joint collaborators, any possible recourse for freedom has been annihilated.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.