Israeli Authorities stop human rights defender coming to Ireland

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Friday September 09, 2005 16:11 by Front LIne info at frontlinedefenders dot org

A Prominent palestinian human rights defender is not permitted to attend the Front Line 3rd platform for human rights defenders at risk even though she has an irish entry visa

The Israeli authorities are preventing a Palestinian human rights defender from attending Front Line’s 3rd Dublin platform for human rights defenders in October.

Ms. Khalida Jarrar, director of the Addameer prisoner’s support and human rights organisation has secured an Irish entry visa to participate in the Dublin conference but will not be permitted to pass through the Israeli border to board her flight.
She said that the only explanation the authorities gave her was “security reasons”.

This is not the first time the Israeli authorities have tried to stop Ms. Jarrar from going to a Human rights defenders conference. In 1998 she was told she could not attend the World Summit of human rights defenders in Paris but she said that after pressure from Amnesty International and the French external minister,” they gave me the permit at the last minute.”

She said that since 1998 she has received a lot of invitations to participate in international conferences but “Israel has not allowed me because they do not like me, as a Palestinian, to go outside and talk about the Israeli violations of human rights.”
The human rights defender told Front Line that she appealed the decision in the Israeli courts but it has been upheld.

Front Line has called upon the Israeli government to give Khalida Jarrar immediate permission to travel abroad to attend the Front Line 3rd Dublin Platform for human rights defenders, in conformity with the UN declaration on human rights defenders.