Abbas government slammed for detaining Palestinian activist
RAMALLAH – Leading rights groups called Tuesday for the release of a prominent Palestinian activist who was detained after criticizing the autonomy government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Issa Amro's detention signals a growing crackdown on free expression in the autonomous Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank, said the London-based group Amnesty International and the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
Amro, 35, was detained Monday by Palestinian security forces in Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, after he criticized the detention of a local journalist who had called for Abbas' resignation. Amro expressed his views in a Facebook post.
