Abu Dhabi: Travel bans caused by mistaken identity violates liberties and freedoms provided for in the UAE constitution, Mosabah Balajeed Al Katbi, a representative from Sharjah, told the House yesterday.
"Personal liberty is guaranteed to all citizens. A person may not be arrested, searched, detained or imprisoned except in accordance with the provisions of the law.
"A person may not be subjected to torture or to degrading treatment. Freedom of movement and residence is guaranteed to citizens. Foreigners in the UAE enjoy the rights and freedoms stipulated in the applicable international instruments or in the treaties and conventions to which the UAE is a party," said Al Katbi, quoting the constitution.
Al Katbi said all these rights and freedoms are violated when a person is banned from travelling due to mistaken identity.
Dr Hadef Bin Jua’an Al Daheri, Minister of Justice, agreed that all these liberties must be guaranteed. He added that the ministries of Justice and Interior have resolved the issue of mistaken identity. He said travel bans may not be imposed or entered into the electronic tracking systems at police stations and check points unless a copy of the passport or identity card of the person on the travel ban list is attached to the warrant.
The representative told the House that on many occasions, innocent people have lost the right to travel due to this issue. He said this has resulted in missed flights and cancellation of hotel bookings. Al Katbi said in some situations innocent people may be locked up for a few days because they are unable to prove that they were not the person on the list.
Al Katbi asked why a passenger who is not on the no-fly list but has a name that matches or is similar to a name on the list has his civil liberties attacked, while our ID cards contain many biometric and personal details.
He suggested that the ID card details be used to prevent the occurrence of “false positive” identification of passengers, where they are not allowed to board a flight or travel overland unless they can prove that they are not the actual person on the travel ban list.
The representative said there should be electronic clearance so that passengers would not need to be cleared all over again while on other flights or on they return to the country.
