ISSA AMRO, NON VIOLENT HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
AND CITIZEN OF HEBRON, WHO IS INDICTED BY THE
ISRAELI MILITARY COURT ON BASELESS CHARGES
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MR AMRO IS FIGHTING THE RIGHT STRUGGLE AGAINST THE
ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES,
WHICH ARE ILLEGAL ACCORDING INTERNATIONAL LAW
MR ISSA AMRO IS LIVING IN HEBRON, WHERE HE FIGHTS HIS
FIGHT AGAINST AGRRESSIVE SETTLERS, WHO TERRORIZE
THE PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN POPULATION
FREE ISSA AMRO!/LETTER TO THE UN SECRETARY, MR GUTERRES
TO
THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL
MR. A. GUTERRES
Subject:
Please use your influence on the Israeli
authorities to drop charges against mr Issa
Amro, non violent champion of the
rightful struggle against the Israeli occupation.
Dear Mr Guterres,
I write to you on behalf of Mr Issa Amro, a Palestinian human
rights defender and known advocate of non violent resistance
against the Israeli occupation. [1]
He is the founder of ”Youth Against Settlements” [2], a group
in Hebron in the Southern West Bank, that resists on non violent
basis, the illegal settlements [3],
especially the Hebron settlers, who form a small, but aggressive settler enclave in Hebron [4]
[As you know, all settlements in occupied Palestinian territories
are contrary with International Law. [5]
In february 2016 mr Amro was arrested by the Israeli military
on 18 charges [I’ll refer to that later] and this week he has to appear
before the Military Court. [6]
MILITARY LAW IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
First:
The whole idea of dragging a civilian for a military Court is not
only absurd, but pure discrimination, sincfe it only
applies to Palestinian inhabitants of the occupied territories [7].
Military Law is not to be apllied on inhabitants in Israel
or settlers in the occupied territories. [8]
That alone is a reason for you to protest at the Israeli authorities
against this outright discrimination.
THE CASE AGAINST MR ISSA AMRO
But the reason for this letter is the case against mr Issa Amro:
According to my information, at 29 february 2016, after a demonstration at 26 february, mr Issa Amro was
arrested, together with lawyer Farid al-Atrash..[9]
Atrash’s case needs your attention too, but since I have more
information about mr Amro, I write about him more elaborately.
[perhaps later I address you on behalf of Mr Atrash]
At june 2016, 18 charges were leveled against mr Amro at Ofer Military Court [10]
Not only some charges against him are ridiculous [”insulting a soldier”
and more of that nonsense] [11], his attorney has declared that 14 of the 18 charges are several years old an in some cases were already investigated
and closed without indictment. [12]
Human Rights organization Amnesty International called
the charges ”baseless” and considers the trial as a way to
silence him and stifle his human rights work. [13]
Earlier that year [april 2016], in a statement, Amnesty International referred
to mr Issa Amro, mr Arid al-Atrash, mr Omar Barghouti, as
others, who are systematically harrassed by the Israeli government
because of their human rights work. [14]
EPILOGUE
This intimidation must come to an end.
Not only Israel is the occupying power for nearly fifty years,
spreading oppression, humiliation, and human rights
abuses in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza [15],
expanding illegal settlements by a new ”theft” law you
have rightly condemned [16].
The settlers in the occupied territories, especially in Hebron,
are terrorizing the Palestinian civilian population on daily basis
[17] without them being protected by the Israeli army [which is
their obligation under the Geneva Conventions]
No, instead of protection, honest Palestinian human rights
defenders like mr Issa Amro are being arrested and intimidated.
I call on you:
Take your responsibility as the UN Secretary and call firmly on
Israel, to stop this intimidation and drop the charges against mr
Issa Amro.
And not only that:
Call firmly and decisevely on Israel, to end the occupation,
dismantle the settlements and break down the illegal
Wall. [18]
That is the only way to a true and lasting peace.
I expect you to defend International Law and take
those important steps.
Kind greetings
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
NOTES
[1]
THE NEW YORK TIMES
WHO’S AFRAID OF NONVIOLENCE
27 JANUARY 2017
[2]
YOUTH AGAINST SETTLEMENTS
[3]
”Youth Against Settlements is a nonviolent direct action group, which seeks to end the building and expanding of illegal Israeli settlements through non-violent popular struggle and civil resistance.
YAS is based in Hebron, one of the hardest hit areas of the Israeli occupation, where fundamentalists Israelis that have forcibly established a settlement right in the heart of Hebron. In order to protect illegal settlers, the Israeli state has imposed on the Palestinian residents of the city a regime of forced evictions, curfews, market and street closures, military checkpoints, and subjection to military law. Palestinians face frequent random searches, detentions without charge, and rampant settler violence. As a result of this, approximately 13,000 Palestinian civilians have fled their homes in Hebron’s city center, turning the city center into a virtual ghost town.”
[4]
”The Palestinians who live in the South Hebron Hills are frequently the victims of violence perpetrated by residents of the nearby Israeli settlements. The violence escalated with the establishment of the Havat Ma’on settlement outpost in 1997 and then in 2000, with the outbreak of the second intifada. The Israeli authorities – military and police – generally do not intervene in these violent incidents and generally fail to exhaust the investigative means necessary for enforcing the law on violent settlers.
Violent incidents include the following: attacking Palestinians in their living areas and attempting to burn down their tent dwellings; attacking shepherds as well as Israeli and international activists who accompany the villagers; vandalizing or chopping down olive trees and fruit trees; burning grain; setting dogs on people; stealing and harming sheep. Attacks of this type – which escalate during planting and harvesting – make it difficult for villagers to get their herds to pasture and restrict their access to their agricultural plots and water cisterns.”
BACKGROUND ON THE SOUTH HEBRON HILLS
BACKGROUND ON THE SOUTH HEBRON HILLS
SOUTH HEBRON HILLS
[5]
THE ILLEGALITY OF THE ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
”The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49).
The Hague Regulations prohibit an occupying power from undertaking permanent changes in the occupied area unless these are due to military needs in the narrow sense of the term, or unless they are undertaken for the benefit of the local population.”
LAND EXPROPRIATION AND SETTLEMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL
LAW
http://www.btselem.org/settlem ents/international_law
”Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.”
ARTICLE 49, FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION
HAGUE CONVENTION 1907
http://www.opbw.org/int_inst/s ec_docs/1907HC-TEXT.pdf
[6]
THE NEW YORK TIMES
WHO’S AFRAID OF NONVIOLENCE
27 JANUARY 2017
[7]
”A new report published by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) outlines the nature of the legal regime currently operating in the West Bank. Two systems of law are applied in a single territory: one – a civilian legal system for Israeli citizens, and a second – a military court system for Palestinian residents. The result: institutionalized discrimination.”
ACRI [ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN ISRAEL]
ONE RULE, TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS: ISRAEL’S REGIME OF LAWS
IN THE WEST BANK
24 NOVEMBER 2014
REPORT
14 OCTOBER 2014
ACRI [ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN ISRAEL]
ONE RULE, TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS: ISRAEL’S REGIME OF LAWS
IN THE WEST BANK
”The laws implemented in the West Bank are inequitable and discriminate against Palestinians. Although the settlers live in the same geographical area in which martial law is imposed, Israel has decided that they are not subject to military law, but rather to Israeli law. The application of two distinct legal systems in a single territory constitutes gross discrimination”
MILITARY LAW
INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF THE RED CROSS
THE JUDICIAL ARM OF THE OCCUPATION:
THE ISRAELI MILITARY COURTS IN THE
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
[8]
”A new report published by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) outlines the nature of the legal regime currently operating in the West Bank. Two systems of law are applied in a single territory: one – a civilian legal system for Israeli citizens, and a second – a military court system for Palestinian residents. The result: institutionalized discrimination.”
ACRI [ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN ISRAEL]
ONE RULE, TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS: ISRAEL’S REGIME OF LAWS
IN THE WEST BANK
24 NOVEMBER 2014
REPORT
14 OCTOBER 2014
ACRI [ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN ISRAEL]
ONE RULE, TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS: ISRAEL’S REGIME OF LAWS
IN THE WEST BANK
”The laws implemented in the West Bank are inequitable and discriminate against Palestinians. Although the settlers live in the same geographical area in which martial law is imposed, Israel has decided that they are not subject to military law, but rather to Israeli law. The application of two distinct legal systems in a single territory constitutes gross discrimination”
MILITARY LAW
[9]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
URGENT ACTION: TWO PALESTINIAN HUMAN
RIGHTS DEFENDERS ON TRIAL
[10]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
ISRAEL/OPT: DROP BASELESS CHARGES AGAINST PALESTINIAN
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
[11]
THE HAARETZ
PALESTINIAN ISSA AMRO CLAIMS POLITICAL
PERSECUTION AFTER INDICTMENT OVER OFFENSES
DATING FROM W013
5 SEPTEMBER 2016
[12]
THE HUFFINGTON POST
ISRAEL PUTS CELEBRATED ACTIVIST ON TRIAL
THE HAARETZ
PALESTINIAN ISSA AMRO CLAIMS POLITICAL
PERSECUTION AFTER INDICTMENT OVER OFFENSES
DATING FROM W013
5 SEPTEMBER 2016
[13]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
ISRAEL/OPT: DROP BASELESS CHARGES AGAINST PALESTINIAN
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
[14]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
ISRAELI GOVERNMENT MUST CEASE INTIMIDATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS, PROTECT THEM FROM
ATTACKS
12 APRIL 2016
[15]
ISRAELI MILITARY ATTACKS ON GAZA
”PROTECTIVE EDGE” 2014
FRAGMENTED LIVES
HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW 2014
MARCH 2015
THE SIEGE ON GAZA
http://www.btselem.org/gaza_ strip/siege
BBC
UN OFFICIAL SLAMS ISRAEL ”CRIMES”
10 DECEMBER 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ middle_east/7774988.stm
BLOCKADE ON GAZA/CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
ASTRID ESSED
14 FEBRUARY 2008
[16]
REUTERS
UN CHIEF SAYS ISRAELI SETTLEMENT BILL GOES
AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LAW
7 FEBRUARY 2017
http://www.reuters.com/article /us-un-israel-settlement-idUSK BN15M2A2
[17]
‘The Palestinians who live in the South Hebron Hills are frequently the victims of violence perpetrated by residents of the nearby Israeli settlements. The violence escalated with the establishment of the Havat Ma’on settlement outpost in 1997 and then in 2000, with the outbreak of the second intifada. The Israeli authorities – military and police – generally do not intervene in these violent incidents and generally fail to exhaust the investigative means necessary for enforcing the law on violent settlers.
Violent incidents include the following: attacking Palestinians in their living areas and attempting to burn down their tent dwellings; attacking shepherds as well as Israeli and international activists who accompany the villagers; vandalizing or chopping down olive trees and fruit trees; burning grain; setting dogs on people; stealing and harming sheep. Attacks of this type – which escalate during planting and harvesting – make it difficult for villagers to get their herds to pasture and restrict their access to their agricultural plots and water cisterns.”
BACKGROUND ON THE SOUTH HEBRON HILLS
[18]
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WALL
IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
9 JULI 2004
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/ index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3& p2=4&p3=6&ca