Adalah, Meezaan object to Israel’s travel bans on Palestinian Islamic leaders Sheikh Raed Salah & Dr. Suleiman Eghabrieh
Adalah - the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and Meezaan Organization for Human Rights (Nazareth) have filed procedural objections against the recent extensions of the travel bans that Israel issued against Palestinian Islamic leaders Sheikh Raed Salah and Dr. Suleiman Eghbarieh. The rights organizations argued that the travel bans are illegal and that Israel did not adhere to the appropriate legal procedures for issuing such bans. The two groups call on Israel to immediately cancel the travel bans.
In the objections, which were submitted by Adalah General Directory Hassan Jabareen, Adalah Attorney Fady Khoury, and attorney Omar Khamayseh to Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the two groups maintain that the travel bans are based on “secret materials” that were not disclosed to Salah and Eghbarieh. This failure to disclose the nature of the alleged evidence against Salah and Eghbarieh violates their rights to freedom of movement and fair procedure.
The objections to the travel ban on Eghbarieh and Salah were filed on 27 July 2022 and 23 August 2022, respectively.
According to Israeli law, an individual targeted by the interior minister with a travel ban has the right to be made aware of evidence submitted against him or her, to know that the ban is neither arbitrary nor personal, and maintains the right to submit legal appeals. In the cases of Salah and Eghbarieh, the travel bans were issued and then extended based on “secret materials” that were not revealed to Salah and Eghbarieh. They were therefore denied the right to defend themselves against the alleged “secret materials”.
Shaked claims that Salah was banned from traveling because he intended to meet with individuals who support terrorism, and that he sought to rebuild the northern branch of the Islamic Movement that Israel had outlawed. Shaked also claimed that Eghbarieh similarly intended to meet with individuals who support terrorism.
“The travel bans have nothing to do with the law or with proper and just procedure. This is a personal and political targeting of leading figures in Palestinian society. The historical delusion that Israel uses to cover up its human rights violations – especially in the context of Palestinian citizens of Israel – is ‘secret information.’ Israel’s allegations of ‘secret information’ have served as the basis used for carrying out administrative arrests in violation of international and humanitarian law, for demolishing homes, for shuttering human rights and civil society institutions, and for obstructing the work of human rights defenders. The Israeli minister does not have any legal authority to issue a travel ban without granting the right to fair procedure, and does not have the right to violate basic human rights such as freedom of movement, travel, and defense before the relevant bodies.”
