MR-försvarare dömd i israelisk militärdomstol

Uppdaterad 25/3 2021

Fredsaktivisten Issa Amro har dömts av israelisk militärdomstol. Issa Amro grundade organisationen Youth Against Settlements i Hebron och är känd för sitt fredliga motstånd mot ockupationen. Han dömdes till två års villkorlig dom. Om han under den tiden bryter mot någon av ockupationsmaktens militärlagar, hamnar han direkt i fängelse i tre månader. Att delta i en fredlig protest kan alltså innebära fängelse. Issa Amro hälsar att han inte kommer att sluta att arbeta mot ockupationen och israelisk apartheid. ”Att demonstrera fredligt borde vara en rättighet för alla”, säger han. Amnesty International har tidigare uttalat att åtalet mot Issa Amro är politiskt motiverad och kopplat till hans fredliga aktivism. Issa Amro står också åtalad av den palestinska myndigheten för att i sociala medier ha kritiserat gripandet av palestinska journalister. Dom väntas inom kort.

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Idag kom domen från den israeliska militärdomstolen mot människorättsförsvararen Issa Amro. Han döms för sitt fredliga arbete mot ockupationen. Straffet kommer att tillkännages den 8 februari.

“Idag tillkännagav Israel att det inte är tillåtet för palestinier att fredligt protestera mot den israeliska ockupationen utan tillstånd från ockupationsmakten,” sade Amro. ”Den fällande domen är ett slag mot de palestinska ickevåldsmotståndet. Det syftar till att tysta min röst och stoppa all fredlig aktivism mot den israeliska ockupationen.” 

Amros israeliska advokat Gaby Lasky tillade att “Militärdomstolarna är en del i hela ockupationen. [Anklagelsen för icke-våldsprotest] är ett exempel på hur domstolarna används för att avskräcka människorättsförsvarare att fortsätta sitt arbete.”

Här är hela pressmeddelandet på engelska:

Israeli Military Court Convicts UN-Recognized Palestinian Human Rights Defender For Protesting Without A Permit

On Wednesday morning (Jan 6) an Israeli military court convicted renowned Palestinian Human Rights Defender Issa Amro for peacefully protesting and civil disobedience. The Israeli military judge announced the verdict in a 10:00am hearing in Ofer Military Court, attended by representatives of British, European, EU and Canadian consulates. Amnesty International issued a statement calling to drop all the “politically motivated” charges.

“Today Israel announced that Palestinians are not allowed to peacefully protest the Israeli occupation without a permit from the occupier,” Amro stated. “This conviction is the military system against the Palestinian nonviolent resistance. It aims to suppress my voice and end all activism against the Israeli occupation.” Amro’s Israeli lawyer Gaby Lasky added that “The military court is just an organ of occupation. The [indictment for nonviolent protest] is an example of how the courts are used in order to deter the important voices of human rights defenders.”

The indictment, first presented in 2016, included 18 charges related to Amro’s community organizing deemed “baseless,” “politically motivated” or “physically impossible” by Amnesty. The military judge convicted Amro on six counts: three counts of “participating in a rally without a permit,” two counts of “obstructing a soldier,” and one count of “assault.” These surround Amro’s participation in the peaceful “Open Shuhada Street” demonstration in 2016; Amro’s participation in the nonviolent “I Have a Dream” demonstration from 2013 in which participants wore masks of Obama and Martin Luther King; one count of obstruction relates to a nonviolent sit-in protest in 2012 calling to re-open the old Hebron municipality building; one count of “assault” by “shoving someone” related to a previously-closed case from 2010, an incident for which the indictment had included an obstruction charge (acquitted) for Amro yelling “I am being assaulted” in the Israeli police station prior to Amro being carried out to an ambulance on a stretcher.

In 2019, UN Special Rapporteurs called for Amro’s protection and expressed “concern” over the charges. In 2017, thirty-five U.S. House Representatives and four Senators including Bernie Sanders sent letters highlighting that some charges were not internationally recognizable offenses and that Amnesty would consider Amro a “prisoner of conscience” if convicted. 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. He won the One World Media Award in 2009 for his involvement in B’Tselem’s camera distribution project. He was a guest of the U.S. State Department in 2011 and has spoken at the UN Human Rights Council on numerous occasions. The sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 8th.