Al Mezan Center Condemns Banning Dr. Abu Safia from Travel; Calls for Respecting Human Rights

At around 9:30am on Monday, 17 November 2008, the police in Gaza banned Dr.
Yusif Abu Safia, Chairman of the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority, from travelling to take part in an Arab preparation meeting to coordinate for the coming Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to be held in Doha, Qatar.
The conference is organized by the Arab League and funded by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
According to Al Mezan resources, Dr.
Abu Safia was scheduled to cross Erez Crossing to Doha via Jordan.
In his testimony, Dr.
Abu Safia said that when he reached the customs junction, his driver pulled over at a police checkpoint.
The driver got off the car to do paper work.
Once he showed the police the ID card of Dr.
Abu Safia, a policeman took it and asked Dr.
Abu Safia to get off the car and wait for an officer.
After an hour, a person in civilian clothes arrived and introduced himself as a member of the Internal Security.
He asked Dr.
Abu Safia for his passport.
Dr.
Abu Safia handed it over to him and the latter put it in his pocket and handed Dr.
Abu Safia a summon notice to appear at al-Mashtal, an interrogation and detention center controlled by Hamas's military wing, on Wednesday, 19 November 2008, the same day on which the conference is scheduled.
Dr.
Abu Safia said that he explained the reason behind his travel and showed the police his conference invitation and air ticket.
After the officer made a few phone calls, he asked Dr.
Abu Safia to go to al-Mashtal.
Accordingly, Dr.
Abu Safia headed to the Internal Security headquarters at al-Mashtal.
He was asked to wait inside a room.
He waited there for half an hour on a chair, which was placed in position that made him sit and face the wall.
He was handed a summon notice to appear at al-Mashtal on Wednesday.
The police refused to return his ID card and passport.
Al Mezan Center condemns banning Dr.
Abu Safia from travel to take part in a conference on environment.
The Center asserts every citizen's right to move and travel freely, a basic right afforded in the Palestinian Basic Law and human rights standards.
The Center re-asserts that the prevailing political and social divide results in the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in addition to the inexorable damage it causes to the Palestinian national cause and the society's unity and fabric.
Therefore, Al Mezan Center once again calls for the need to resort to dialogue to settle all the political disagreements between the Palestinian parties.
The Center calls these parties not to politicize people's normal life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), especially in light of the stepped-up Israeli aggression and the continuous blockade.
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