De facto travel ban against human rights defender Jamal Juma'

Although Mr. Jamal Juma’ was released without any condition on January 13, 2010 from Israeli detention, as of today, his passport is still confiscated by the Israeli authorities, which amount to a de facto travel ban. Indeed, Mr. Juma’ was already prevented from attending the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre from January 25 to 29, 2010 as well as a conference on Palestine organised on February 27 and 28, 2010 by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), a college of the University of London. Moreover, it is likely that Mr. Juma’ will not be able to attend a conference organised by Amnesty International on June 10 in the United Kingdom and entitled “Against the Wall: The art of resistance in Palestine”, as the deadline for visa application is about to expire. Mr. Juma’ might also be prevented from attending the Special Committee of Investigation of Israeli Practices affecting Human Rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs in the Occupied Territories in Amman, on June 15, 2010, to which he was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to testify.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Jamal Juma’ was detained from December 15, 2009 to January 13, 2010 without charge and without being able to know the reason for his arrest as he was detained on the basis of “secret evidence. His detention seemed to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities.

On the night of his arrest, the Israeli authorities had raided his home and confiscated some of his personal belongings, including his passport, computer and cell phones. Three weeks after his release, the Israeli prison authorities returned his ID card but kept his passport and other personal belongings. Since then, the Israeli prison authorities and intelligence services have refused either to inform Mr. Juma’ of where his passport is being kept or which branch is holding it, or to respond to his lawyer, who has therefore requested a court hearing on this matter, which is to be held on Monday May 31, 2010 at Ofar prison.

The Observatory believes that such a de facto travel ban unfairly and arbitrarily impairs Mr. Jamal Juma’s ability to address regional and international fora about human rights concerns in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, thus violating Article 9.5 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, as well as Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Israel in 1991, which includes the right to leave one’s own country.

The Observatory therefore urges the Israeli authorities to put an end to any kind of harassment against Mr. Jamal Juma’, in accordance with paragraph 11 of the European Union (EU) Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders. The Observatory also calls upon the European Commission Delegation as well as EU member-States’ missions in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to urge the Israeli authorities to comply with the relevant international norms and standards, including the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in order to create an environment where human rights defenders can operate freely.

For further information, please contact:

• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau, + 41 22 809 49 39
• FIDH: Karine Appy / Fabien Maitre, + 33 1 43 55 14 12