Ongoing travel restrictions imposed on Mr. Shawan Jabarin

Israel

June 22, 2007

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Israel.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights NGO, about ongoing travel restrictions imposed on Mr. Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq General Director.

According to the information received, on June 20, 2007, the Israeli High Court of Justice heard the petition brought by Mr. Shawan Jabarin against the Commander of the Israeli military forces in the West Bank. The petition sought to overturn the travel ban imposed on Mr. Jabarin by the Israeli military authorities, in time for him to be able to attend an international conference on peace and justice in Germany from June 25 to 27, 2007.

Yet, the legal counsel for the Israeli military authorities first argued that the West Bank has been a “closed military zone” since 2 July 1967, and therefore individuals inside that territory have no “right” to freedom of movement to and from that territory. Rather, it was argued, the ability to do so is contingent on the discretion of the military authorities, according to which allowing Mr. Jabarin to travel abroad would constitute a security risk for the State of Israel, on account of his alleged political affiliations.

Although the legal counsel for the Israeli military commander acknowledged that there was no evidence that Mr. Jabarin had engaged in any illegitimate activities when he was previously abroad, secret evidence was then presented to the Court, allegedly demonstrating that Mr. Jabarin has been and continues to be an active member of a “political organisation” designated as “illegal” by Israel.

When this secret evidence was presented to the judges by the Israeli army’s lawyers, all members of the public, as well as Mr. Jabarin’s lawyer, were required to leave the courtroom so that it could be examined ex parte, effectively rendering it unchallengeable in judicial proceedings and denying Mr. Jabarin’s right to a fair trial.

After briefly reviewing the secret evidence, the Court ruled that Mr. Jabarin will not be allowed to travel to Germany next week. However, the Court will consider the general travel prohibition effectively being imposed on Mr. Jabarin and will issue a judgment in the coming weeks addressing the procedural issues raised during the hearing. It is unclear whether another hearing will be required for this purpose as yet.

The Observatory expresses its deep concern at these new travel restrictions against Mr. Shawan Jabarin, which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities. Indeed, travel restrictions such as those imposed on Mr. Jabarin unfairly and arbitrarily impair his ability and the ability of his organisation to address international forums about human rights concerns in the Occupied Palestinian territories.

The Observatory further recalls that Israeli security officials have refused Mr. Jabarin’s requests to travel abroad for professional purposes and in response to invitations from international nongovernmental organisations since March 23, 2006. Israeli authorities have not explained why the restrictions are in place (See background information and joint press release Observatory/HRW, May 2, 2007).

Under these circumstances, the Israeli government’s repeated refusal to allow Mr. Jabarin to travel abroad constitutes an arbitrary and unlawful infringement on his right to freedom of movement. This includes his right to leave his own country, guaranteed in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Israel ratified in 1991.

Although human rights law permits restrictions on freedom of movement for security reasons, the restrictions must have a clear legal basis, be limited to what is necessary, and be proportionate to the threat. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the body that oversees the ICCPR, said in its General Comment 27 that “any limits on freedom of movement cannot reverse the relation between right and restriction, between norm and exception”.

Background information:

On April 19, 2007, Mr. Jabarin was unable to attend FIDH annual Congress of in Lisbon (Portugal) because Israeli authorities would not allow him to leave the occupied West Bank.

Before his travel ban was imposed last year, Mr. Jabarin had travelled abroad on eight different occasions since 1999. In February 2006, the authorities permitted Mr. Jabarin to leave the West Bank and travel abroad. One of these trips was to attend a human rights conference in Morocco. On that occasion, the authorities’ pre-departure inspection raised no concerns that would justify preventing Mr. Jabarin from travelling.

A month later, on March 23, 2006, Mr. Jabarin attempted to cross from the West Bank to Jordan. However, while Mr. Jabarin reports that nothing had changed in his circumstances, Israeli security officials denied his exit from the West Bank and issued him a police order to appear at the Etsion Liaison Office, between Hebron and Bethlehem. Mr. Jabarin appeared at Etsion at the specified time on March 26, but was made to wait outside for four hours in uncomfortably cold weather.

When Mr. Jabarin refused to comply with what he regarded as a humiliating request to strip the clothes from his torso before entering the compound, an Israeli official told him to go home but refused to return his identification document. Without such documents, Palestinian residents of the West Bank cannot legally travel even within that territory. Despite his repeated efforts to retrieve his ID, Israeli authorities returned it to him only in July, through the assistance of the Israeli human rights organisation HaMoked.

In October 2006, Israeli authorities again refused to grant Mr. Jabarin permission to travel to attend a human rights conference in Spain. And again in December, the authorities denied him permission to attend a conference in Egypt organized by Christian Aid. Mr. Jabarin filed an appeal in response to this denial, and the Israeli High Court rejected his request. The court’s decision was based on submissions from the authorities that neither Jabarin nor his counsel was allowed to see.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:

1. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Shawan Jabarin;
2. lift the travel ban imposed on Mr. Shawan Jabarin, as it sanctions his human rights activities;
3. put an end to any kind of harassment against all human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and ensure in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their work without unjustified hindrances;
4. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which guarantees every person’s right “to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, article 5c, which states that “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, at the national and international levels [...] to communicate with nongovernmental or intergovernmental organizations”, and article 12(2), which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
5. more generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in accordance with international human rights instruments ratified by Israel, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Addresses:

• Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 651 2631 / 02-670-5475, E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il, pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
• Mr. Tzipi Livni, Minister, of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 Yitzhak Rabin Boulevard, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91035, Israel. Fax: +972 2 628 7757 / +972 2 628 8618 / + 972-2-5303367. Email: sar@mfa.gov.il
• Mr. Daniel Friedmann, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 628 7757 / + 972 2 628 8618 / + 972 2 530 3367. Email: sar@justice.gov.il / tifereth@justice.gov.il
• Ambassador Itzhak Levanon, Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, CH-1202, Geneva, Switzerland, E-mail: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il, Fax: +41 22 716 05 55
• Ambassador Stefan Gohanneson, Embassy of Israel in Brussels, 40 avenue de l’Observatoire, 1180 Uccle, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 373 56 17, Email: brussels@israel.org

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Israel in your respective country.

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Geneva - Paris, June 22, 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

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