Palestinians wanted for minor crimes face travel ban

Rights groups call on President Abbas to repeal law that violates basic law

Human rights groups are calling on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to withdraw a travel ban on Palestinians involved in minor crimes, claiming the new law is unconstitutional.

A presidential decree has given the go-ahead to impose a six-month travel ban on Palestinians wanted for misdemeanours, especially issuing of dud cheques, or minor crimes whose penalty does not exceed six months’ imprisonment.

Under the new law, Public Prosecution can prevent such Palestinians from travelling for six months with the possibility of an extension of the term. Appeals against the decision can be lodged with the Palestinian Appeals Court.

However, 12 Palestinian legal and human rights organisations on Monday urged President Abbas to rescind the travel ban, which they condemned as unconstitutional.

In a letter to Abbas, the organisations said the restriction on freedom of movement violated Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights conventions that Palestine had agreed to without reservation.

421, 333 dud cheque cases

A senior official from the Presidential Palace told Gulf News that the new law would enable Palestinian law enforcement to target the increasing number of cases reported in the Palestinian territories, especially cases of dud cheques involving billions of shekels.

According to the Palestinian Monetary Authority, 421,333 cheques bounced in 2016.

The presidential official said hundreds of Palestinians had taken the Allenby Crossing to Jordan to flee the consequences of issuing bad cheques, which could easily destroy the Palestinian economy.

Until now, Palestinian courts have issued only limited travel ban orders relating to corruption cases.