(Hebron, Occupied West Bank) On Monday, June 21, 2021, Palestinian authorities arrested renowned Human Rights Defender Issa Amro over critical social media posts. Amro will be presented before a public Palestinian court on Tuesday for a hearing over the social media posts accused of violating the PA’s draconian cybercrime law.
According to lawyer Hijaze Ebado, Amro was summoned for an investigation on Monday, whereafter he was at first dismissed and asked to present for court the following day. However, he was called back a few minutes later and then taken into custody. Amro’s grounds for arrest concerned a social media post criticizing the authorities’ arrest of Fatah member Ghassan Abu Sunani the previous day. Amro’s organization. Youth Against Settlements condemned Amro’s arrest, considering it a “result of his criticisms to the corruption and his constant demand for the implementation of the law in Palestine” and called for his immediate release.
On May 23rd, Amro reported a shooting at a family business, allegedly by “PA-affiliated outlaws.” Armed men fired bullets at a store owned by Amro’s father seemingly in an act of intimidation.
Amro has previously been arrested by Palestinian authorities for posting criticism on social media. In late 2017, Amro was jailed for a week and mistreated by the Palestinian Preventative Security. After international outcry and Amro going on hunger strike, Amro was released. The case was reopened in 2019 and concluded in April 2021 when Amro was acquitted. The trial was condemned by Amnesty International.
Issa Amro is the co-founder and former coordinator of the Hebron-based Youth Against Settlements initiative. In 2010, he was declared “Human Rights Defender of the year in Palestine” by the UN OHCHR and he is formally recognized by the European Union. In 2011, he was a guest of the U.S. State Department. Amro was also prosecuted by an Israeli military court in a trial receiving wide international condemnation. He was convicted on six charges relating to his activism and community activities, pending appeal. In May 2021, Amro met with the U.S. Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken.
The Electronic Crimes Act was enacted by Palestinian authorities in 2017 and has been the basis for arrests and prosecutions. The law has been condemned by rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who describe it as “repressive” and “draconian.”
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