Amnesty: Israel judge expected to give verdict against Issa Amro

A military judge at Israel’s Ofer Military Court in the occupied West Bank is expected to give tomorrow his verdict against Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian activist who is facing politically motivated charges for his peaceful activism against Israel’s military occupation and illegal settlements; some of the charges date back to 2010. Amnesty International fears that Issa Amro will be given a long prison sentence.

Ahead of Issa Amro’s hearing, which is set to take place on 6 January 2021, Saleh Higazi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said:

The Israeli authorities must end their campaign of persecution against Palestinian activist Issa Amro, who is a prominent voice against Israel’s regime of discrimination and systematic human rights violations against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT),

particularly in Hebron.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to drop all the charges they have imposed on Issa Amro. It considers them all to be politically motivated and linked to his peaceful work in exposing Israel’s human rights violations.

More broadly, the organisation is urging the Israeli authorities to end their systematic attacks against Palestinian activists who speak up and peacefully act against Israel’s long-standing military occupation. Such attacks are an assault on the right to freedom of expression. The international community must act now to stop this campaign of repression and work to ensure that human rights defenders and activists in Israel and the OPT are protected from arbitrary interference in their work.

Issa Amro is a founder of the Youth Against Settlements (YAS) group in Hebron. He and his group are committed to non-violent activism against the illegal Israeli settlements in Hebron and the discriminatory restrictions placed on Palestinians by the Israeli authorities in the city. Issa Amro documents human rights violations in the city in the context of Israeli’s military occupation organises peaceful protests and distributes information about the settlements, violence by settlers, and human rights violations by Israeli forces to journalists, diplomats, and other visitors. He is continuously targeted by Israeli authorities and settlers for his human rights work.

In September 2017, Issa Amro was arrested by Palestinian security forces for posting comments on Facebook critical of the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank. He was later charged with disturbing “public order” under the Palestinian Electronic Crimes Law, as well as “causing strife” and “insulting the higher authorities” under the 1960 Jordanian Penal Code, which is still enforced in the West Bank. Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank to drop all charges against Issa Amro.

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