PalestineFreeVoice - Palestinian Authority passports (jawaz safr) are passports issued since April 1995 by the Palestinian Authority, to Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, for the purpose of international travel.The Palestinian people regard the passport a crucial symbol of their nationhood.
However most passport applications for residents of the Gaza Strip, are being denied by the PA in Ramallah. The Gaza-based Ministry of Interior said in a statement yesterday," that a shortfall of 100,000 passports, have created a crisis for prospective travelers".
The Fatah-run government in Ramallah is suspected of issuing passports only to Fatah movement's affiliates. The Ministry of Interior in Gaza City alleged that PA intelligence services were preventing the issuing of most of the passport into Gaza. In general Gaza residents submit 10,000 passport applications every month. However, according to the Interior Ministry only 18,000 passports have been delivered to Gaza during the past two years.
The Interior Ministry encourage residents of Gaza whose passport applications have been denied or delayed, without an acceptable reason, to bring their complains to the Human Rights Department, at the Interior Ministry and pursue legal proceeding against the PA Authority in Ramallah.
If applicable in Palestinian law, I would suggest preferably a (1) Class action lawsuit.
(1). Class Action is a form of lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or where a class of defendants are being sued. A class action avoids the situation where different court rulings could create "incompatible standards" of conduct for the defendant to follow
The legislative process is an attempt to claim damages, a sum of money paid in compensation for monetary loss or injury, make reparations or amends for wrongs done to the victims, an act of correcting an error or a fault.
What does Human Rights Laws and International Treaties say about Freedom of Movement ?
International treaties like ICCPR , section 12, guarantees Right to Travel outside the country, to which treaty I doubt that the Ramallah Authorities is signatory.Denial of passport is also a violation of the UN declaration on human rights. The freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human rights concept that the constitutions of numerous countries respect. It asserts that a citizen of a country, in which that the citizen is present has the liberty to travel, reside in, and/or work in any part where one pleases, within the limits of respect for the liberty and rights of others, and to leave and return at any time.
- .Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." -the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 13
- Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 12
- Liberty of movement is an indispensable condition for the free development of a person." -- United Nations Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 27: Freedom of movement
- ICCPR (section 12 guarantees Right to Travel outside the country).
The PA authorities in Ramallah have neither formally denied a passport, nor given reasons for its non- issuance.
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