Annex: Letter to Human Rights Coordinator in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

[1]"The People of Jordan," King Hussein's website, http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/people1.html (accessed October 12, 2009).

[2] David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace, (New York: Avon Books, 1990), p. 441.

[3] Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, signed December 23, 1920. Text available in American Journal of International Law, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1922, pp. 122–126.

[4] Benny Morris, Righteous Victims. The Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001, (New York: Vintage Books, 2001), p. 88.

[5] Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace, p. 505. Fromkin observes, on p. 514, "The recurring suggestion that Palestine be partitioned between Arabs and Jews ran up against the problem that 75 percent of the country had already been given to an Arab dynasty [the Hashemites ruling Transjordan] that was not Palestinian. The newly created province of Transjordan, later to become the independent state of Jordan, gradually drifted into existence as an entity separate from the rest of Palestine."

[6] King Abdullah appointed the Palestinian delegates to the conference. See Oroub Al Abed, "Palestinian Refugees in Jordan," Forced Migration Online Research Guide, February 2004, http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo025/ (accessed August 26, 2009), p. 3.

[7] Raja'i Dajani, "Withdrawal of Nationality … and Its Effects on the Rights and Freedoms of Individuals [سحب الجنسية ...   وتأثيرها على حقوق وحريات الأفراد]," unpublished paper presented at the Professional Associations Complex, February 24, 2008, p. 3. Copy on File with Human Rights Watch. The joining of the West Bank under Jordanian sovereignty has variably been described as unification or annexation, implying an improper action. A website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls it an "annexation" while at the same time quoting from the Jordanian parliamentary resolution declaring the "union" of the West Bank and East Bank:

In April 1950, Jordan annexed the areas it had occupied by military force in 1948. On 24 April 1950, the Jordan House of Deputies and House of Notables, in a joint session, adopted the following Resolution annexing the West Bank and Jerusalem:

In the expression of the people's faith in the efforts spent by His Majesty, Abdullah, toward attainment of natural aspirations, and basing itself on the right of self-determination and on the existing de facto position between Jordan and Palestine and their national, natural and geographic unity and their common interests and living space, Parliament, which represents both sides of the Jordan, resolves this day and declares:

First, its support for complete unity between the two sides of the Jordan and their union into one State, which is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, at whose head reigns King Abdullah Ibn al Husain, on a basis of constitutional representative government and equality of the rights and duties of all citizens….

See "Jordanian Annexation of West Bank – Resolution Adopted by the House of Deputies," Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Historical Documents, Volumes 1-2: 1947-1974, chapter 10, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign+Relations/Israels+Foreign+Relations+since+1947/1947-1974/10+Jordanian+Annexation+of+West+Bank-+Resolution+A.htm (accessed December 8, 2009). For a brief discussion of international recognition of this move, see Sanford R. Silverburg, "Pakistan and the West Bank: A Research Note," Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 19, no. 2, April 1983, pp. 261-263.

[8] There is a range of estimates for the number of Palestinians displaced from their homes in the period 1947-48, from 420,000 at the low end, to 950,000 at the high end. McGill University's Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet provides some estimates for displaced Palestinians in that period: see http://prrn.mcgill.ca/background/index.htm (accessed October 12, 2009). See also Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 252: "About 700,000 Arabs-the figure was later to be a major point of dispute, the Israelis officially speaking of some 520,000, the Palestinian themselves of 900,000-1,000,000-fled or were ejected from the areas that became the Jewish state."

On the figure of about one-third fleeing to the West Bank, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency cites 506,200 registered refugees in Jordan for 1950, including 100,000 in the East Bank (see below), with the remainder in the West Bank. The 406,000 are between one-third and one-half of the overall number of refugees-914,221-registered with UNRWA that year. See "Number of Registered Refugees," United Nations Relief and Works Agency, http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/pdf/reg-ref.pdf (accessed December 8, 2009). Gilbar writes, "The most reasonable estimate is that 630,000-680,000 left their homes during 1948. Of these, 360,000-380,000 moved to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip." Gad G. Gilbar, "Population Growth and Migration, the Palestinian Communities, 1949-1987" in Gad G. Gilbar, ed., Population Dilemmas in the Middle East (Oxford and New York: Frank Cass, 1997), p. 11.

On the figure of 70,000, see ibid., p. 12. On the figure of 100,000 Palestinian refugees moving to the East Bank, see United Nations Relief and Works Agency, "Jordan Refugee Camp Profiles," http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/jordan.html (accessed December 8, 2009):  "In 1948, an estimated 100,000 refugees crossed the Jordan River and initially took shelter in temporary camps, in mosques and schools, or in towns and villages."

[9] The figure of 300,000 is given in C.B. Dear and M.R.D. Foot. The Oxford Companion to World War II (Oxford University Press, 2001), s.v. "Transjordan," http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Transjordan.html (accessed December 8, 2009). The figure of 440,000 "largely indigenous, Transjordanian population" is given in Laurie A. Brand, "A Crisis of Identity," in Journal of Palestine Studies, vol.24, no 3 (1995), p. 47.

[10] Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 336.

[11] Helen Chapin Metz, ed. "Jordan: A Country Study," secti0n "Council of Ministers," GPO for the Library of Congress, 1989, http://countrystudies.us/jordan/ (accessed August 26, 2009); and Article 74, a division of the Alternative Information Center, "Facts and Figures – 1967 Displaced Persons," issue 12b, 1995, http://www.badil/org/Publications/Article74/1995/art12b.htm (accessed August 26, 2009).

[12] BADIL, "From the 1948 Nakba to the 1967 Naksa," Occasional Bulletin No. 18, June 2004, p.3.

[13] King Hussein bin Talal, Address to the Nation, Amman, July 31, 1988, www.kinghussein.gov.jo (accessed May 6, 2009).

[14]Jihad al-Rantisi, "The Nationality Withdrawal Phobia [فيبيا سحب الجنسية]," Al-Hadath, http://www.al-hadath.com/look/article.tpl?IdLanguage=17&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=6895&NrIssue=688&NrSection=2 (accessed July 8, 2009), and for "demographic balance": Bassam Badarin, "Withdrawal of Nationalities in Jordan: Those Who Lost Their National Numbers Refuse to Become Bidun", Al-Quds Al-Arabi (Amman), July 3, 2009, http://www.alquds.co.uk/archives/2009/07/07-02/qfi.pdf (accessed October 6, 2009)..

[15] Bassam Badarin, "Withdrawal of Nationalities in Jordan, Al-Quds Al-Arabi (Amman), July 3, 2009.

[16] Ibid.

[17] "'Interior' Clarifies Disengagement Instructions Concerning Yellow and Green Cards", Al-Arab Al-Yawm (Amman), July 18, 2009, http://ammonnews.net/article.aspx?ARticleNo=41930 (accessed July 18, 2009).

[18] Khetam Malkawi, "House Panel Backs Ministry Procedures on 'Citizenship Revocation,'" Jordan Times, July 17, 2009.

[19] Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted December 10, 1948, G.A. Res. 217A(III), U.N. Doc. A/810 at 71 (1948), art. 15.

[20] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, art. 24. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force September 2, 1990, art. 7.

[21] League of Arab States, Arab Charter for Human Rights, May 22, 2004, reprinted in 12 Int'l Hum. Rts. Rep. 893 (2005), entered into force March 15, 2008, art. 29.

[22]American Convention on Human Rights ("Pact of San José, Costa Rica"), adopted November 22, 1969, O.A.S. Treaty Series No. 36, 1144 U.N.T.S. 123, entered into force July 18, 1978, reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L.V/II.82 doc.6 rev.1 at 25 (1992), art. 20.2: "Every person has the right to the nationality of the state in whose territory he was born if he does not have the right to any other nationality." African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49 (1990), entered into force November 29, 1999, art. 6.4: "States Parties to the present Charter shall undertake to ensure that their Constitutional legislation recognize the principles according to which a child shall acquire the nationality of the State in the territory of which he has been born if, at the time of the child's birth, he is not granted nationality by any other State in accordance with its laws."

[23] Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of the Yean and Bosico Children, Judgment of September 8, 2005, Series C, No. 130 http://www.escr-net.org/usr_doc/Judgement_Sept_8_05.pdf (accessed December 8, 2009), paras 140-141.

[24] Under Article 1 of the Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, "It is for each State to determine under its own law who are its nationals. This law shall be recognized by other States in so far as it is consistent with international conventions, international custom, and the principles of law generally recognized with regard to nationality."

[25] International Court of Justice, Notteböhm Case, Liechtenstein vs. Guatemala, I.C.J. Rep. 4, 1955.

[26] Ibid. In the Nottebohm Case, brought by Liechtenstein against Guatemala, the court developed this analysis to determine an individual's nationality.

[27] ICCPR, art. 24, and Arab Charter for Human Rights, art. 29.

[28] Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 989 U.N.T.S. 175, entered into force December 13, 1975, art. 8.

[29] Ibid., art. 1.

[30]  Ibid. arts. 9 and 10.

[31] CRC, art. 8.

[32]  As Ray Takkenberg, a legal scholar, points out in his study of the legal status of Palestinian refugees, the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 1960 would include Palestinians under the definition of stateless person as someone "who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law." However, the drafters of the convention, who considered the Palestinians to be stateless, decided to exclude them from the ambit of the convention. According to Takkenberg, this fact is demonstrated by an article in the convention that excludes from its provisions persons receiving protection or assistance from UN bodies, with the exception of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 360 U.N.T.S. 117, entered into force June 6, 1960, art. 1.2.ii. Jordan is not a state party to the convention.

[33] Not all nationals need have full citizenship rights. For example, minors usually cannot vote, and adults are not entitled to free public education.

[34] UDHR, art. 17.

[35] International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force January 3, 1976, art. 2; CRC, art. 2.

[36] Convention Against Discrimination in Education, adopted December 14, 1960, UNESCO General Conference, 11th Session, Paris, entered into force May 22, 1962, art. 3 [accepted by Jordan April 6, 1976]

[37] Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 19, Protection of the family, the right to marriage and equality of the spouses (Art. 23), 39th session (1990). See also, for example, Abdulaziz and Others v United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights (9474/81) (1985).

[38] CRC, art.16.

[39] Ibid., art. 9.

[40] Jordanian constitution, art. 5: "Jordanian nationality shall be defined by law."

[41] Nationality Law, art. 10.

[42] Law No. 6 of 1954 on Nationality, Official Gazette, no. 1171, February 16, 1954, p. 105, arts. 3 and 9.

[43]Law No. 56 of 1949 Additional to the Law of Nationality, Official Gazette, no. 1004, December 20, 1949, p. 422.

[44] Critics therefore charge that the substance and manner of that decision violate Jordanian law. Article 1 of the 1952 constitution states that the kingdom is indivisible and that "no part of it may be ceded."  More importantly, only a law passed by parliament could decide on such a step, these critics say, since article 33.ii. of the constitution requires parliamentary approval for all decisions affecting the rights of Jordanians. The government maintains that King Hussein relinquished the West Bank and East Jerusalem in an administrative act, not an agreement or a treaty, and therefore the constitutional article does not apply. For a critique, see Dajani, "Withdrawal of Nationality."

[45] Jordan, Disengagement Instructions for the Year 1988, July 28, 1988, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/43cd04b94.html (accessed April 29, 2009), art. 2. Human Rights Watch has not been able to obtain an original Arabic copy of the regulations. Bold highlights in original.

[46]  King Hussein, "Address to the Nation," July 31, 1988, www.kinghussein.gov.jo .

[47] The population of the West Bank was estimated at 860,000 and of East Jerusalem at 130,000. See David Mcdowell, "A Profile of the Population of the West Bank and Gaza," Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 2 no. 1, 1989, p. 20. Events after 1988, including the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, have made the possibility of addressing Jordanian actions 21 years ago highly unfeasible.

[48] Youssef M. Ibrahim, "Jordan a Grim Refuge for Kuwait Palestinians," New York Times, October 3, 1991, http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/03/world/jordan-a-grim-refuge-for-kuwait-palestinians.html (accessed October 8, 2009). See also "As of September 1991, over 280,000 Jordanians and Palestinians returned to Jordan since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990." Middle East Watch (now Human Rights Watch/Middle East and North Africa Division), Nowhere to Go. The Tragedy of the Remaining Palestinian Families in Kuwait, October 1991, p.18.

[49] High Court of Justice, Decision 164/90, cited in The Palestine Yearbook of International Law 1990-1991, p. 70.

[50] Malkawi, "House Panel Backs Ministry Procedures on 'Citizenship Revocation,'" Jordan Times.

[51] Ann M. Lesch, "Palestinians in Kuwait," Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. 20, no. 4 (Summer 1991), p. 53.

[52] "'Interior' Clarifies Disengagement Instructions Concerning Yellow and Green Cards", Al-Arab Al-Yawm, http://ammonnews.net/article.aspx?ARticleNo=41930 .

[53] League of Arab States, Political Committee, "Granting Palestinian Refugees in Camps Unified Travel Documents," Decision no. 715/Dal 20, January 27, 1954 (accessed August 12, 2009).

[54] Jordan Law on Nationality, art. 17.

[55] Ibid., arts. 4 and 5.

[56] League of Arab States, Conference of Supervisors of Palestinian Affairs, "Acquisition of Another Nationality No Grounds for Removal from Relief Lists" , Decision no. 2491/Dal 51, March 3, 1969 (accessed August 12, 2009).

[57] Abbas Shiblak, Center for Refugees and the Palestinian Diaspora (Shaml), "League of Arab States Resolutions on Residency Status of Palestinian Refugees in Arab States", 1997, Introduction. 

[58] Human Rights Watch interview with the head of the human rights department and another official of the department at the Jordanian Ministry of Interior, Amman, April 2009.

[59] Abbas Shiblak, "The Palestinian Refugee issue: A Palestinian Perspective," Chatham House Briefing Paper MENAP/PR BP 2009/1, February 2009, p. 9.

[60] BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, "Closing Protection Gaps: A Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention," August 2005, p. 16.

[61]Palestine Yearbook of International Law 2000/2001, p. 226.

[62] BADIL, correspondence sent to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), October 27, 2003, cited in Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Jordan: Jordan's treatment of failed refugee claimants who are returned to Jordan or persons who have exited the country illegally or whose permission to leave has expired; whether there is a distinction made between citizens of Jordan, stateless Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, and stateless Palestinians who reside in Jordan under UNRWA registration; possibility of torture or the existence ofa risk to life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment upon return, 9 March 2004, JOR42458.E , reproduced at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/41501c2623.html (accessed 13 August 2009).

[63] Dawudiya, like others, mentioned that the green and yellow colors were swapped in 1988, though we were unable to find further evidence thereof. By that reckoning, West Bank residents between 1983 and 1988 received a yellow card, and West Bankers living in the East Bank received a green card, the opposite of later arrangements.

[64] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[65] BADIL, "Closing Protection Gaps," p. 20.

[66] The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2008, "The Population, Housing and Establishment Census – 2007," Press Conference on the Preliminary Findings (Population, Buildings, Housing Units and Establishments), Ramallah, http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/PressRelease/census2007_e.pdf (accessed December 8, 2009), p. 10: "Under the Israeli occupation, a comprehensive enumeration of the Palestinians population was done in September, 1967. 599 thousand inhabitants were enumerated in the West Bank."

[67] Abbas Shiblak, "Residency Status and Civil Rights of Palestinian Refugees in Arab Countries," Journal of Palestine Studies, vol.25, no. 3 (1996), p. 40.

[68] Alternative Information Center's division Article 74, "Married Women Without Identity Cards," issue 1, April 12, 1992, http://www.badil/org/Publications/Article74/1992/art2.htm (accessed August 26, 2009).

[69]Alternative Information Center's division Article 74, "Residency Rights: Dimensions of the Problem," issue 1, November 11, 1991, http://www.badil/org/Publications/Article74/1991/art1.htm (accessed August 26, 2009).

[70] Shiblak, "Residency Status and Civil Rights of Palestinian Refugees in Arab Countries," Journal of Palestine Studies, p. 40, Shiblak speaks of more than 150,000.

[71] BADIL, "Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 2006–2007," 2007, p. 17.

[72] "PA: Israel grants permanent residency to 3,500 West Bank Palestinians," Deutsche Presse Agentur reproduced in Haaretz (Tel Aviv), October 10, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/911438.html  (accessed October 30, 2009).

[73] "Ibid.

[74] B'Tselem, "The Prohibition on Family Unification in the Occupied Territories," undated, http://www.btselem.org/English/Family_Separation/Index.asp  (accessed October 30, 2009).

[75] "PA: Israel grants permanent residency to 3,500 West Bank Palestinians," Deutsche Presse Agentur, October 10, 2007.

[76] Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Israel/Palestine: Whether a Palestinian who left the West Bank in 1991 using a fraudulent Jordanian passport, and whose family still resides in the West Bank, would be allowed to return to the West Bank, 15 January 2002,ZZZ37971.E ,reproduced at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3df4bed710.html (accessed October 30, 2009).

[77]Abdulla v. IDF West Bank Military Commander, H.C.J. 7607/05, Supreme Court of Israel, December 14, 2005, discussed in Yearbook of International Law, http://www.icrc.org/ihl-nat.nsf/39a82e2ca42b52974125673e00508144/7b7fa4443f3c8a78c12575bc004914fa!OpenDocument  (accessed October 30, 2009): "The Court rejected a petition of a Palestinian, whose presence in the West Bank was unlawful, against his deportation to Jordan (whose citizenship he holds). According to the State, the petitioner, who was born in the West Bank, immigrated to Jordan and lost his residency rights in the area. As a result, the military commander could deport him from the area pursuant to an existing military decree barring the infiltration of aliens into the West Bank. The Court accepted the lawfulness of the State's position and held that, in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement between Israel and the PLO, the petitioner should file a request for reinstatement of his residency rights with the Palestinian Authority, and the latter should forward it to the Israeli Authorities. Nonetheless, the Court criticised the State for its failure to institute an effective judicial monitoring mechanism to review the legality of detainment of aliens prior to deportation. While noting that the Fourth Geneva Convention does not explicitly mandate such judicial review, the Court stated that customary international law requires effective judicial review over such detentions…."

[78]Following the end of the 1967 Six-Day War, the IDF assumed control of the governmental, legislative, and administrative powers of the Gaza Strip and Judea Samaria. A military court system for these territories was established, and the military prosecutors present there prosecute terror-related and other criminal offences committed by Palestinians in the territories. See Israel Defense Forces, Military Advocate General's Corps, "History," http://www.law.idf.il/321-en/Patzar.aspx (accessed December 8, 2009).

[79] "Exit Card" issued by the Israeli Authorities for Abbas, copy on file with Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, Amman, May 24, 2009.

[80] Alternative Information Center's division Article 74, "Residency Rights: Dimensions of the Problem," issue 1, http://www.badil/org/Publications/Article74/1991/art1.htm .

[81] Alternative Information Center's division Article 74, "Married Women Without Identity Cards," issue 2, http://www.badil/org/Publications/Article74/1992/art2.htm . See also Centre for the Defence of the Individual (HaMoked), Jerusalem, correspondence sent to CIC, November 5, 2003, cited in Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Jordan: Jordan's treatment of failed refugee claimants who are returned to Jordan or persons who have exited the country illegally or whose permission to leave has expired; whether there is a distinction made between citizens of Jordan, stateless Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, and stateless Palestinians who reside in Jordan under UNRWA registration; possibility of torture or the existence of a risk to life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment upon return, 9 March 2004, JOR42458.E, reproduced at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/41501c2623.html (accessed 13 August 2009).

[82] "Jordanians of Palestinian Origin Threatened by Loss of Citizenship," Fact International, http://www.factjo.com/FACTJO_en/printable.aspx?id=2218 (accessed October 7, 2009).

[83] Khetam Malkawi, "House Panel Backs Ministry Procedures on 'Citizenship Revocation,'" Jordan Times, July 17, 2009.

[84] "352 Jordanians Lose Their Nationality Since the Beginning of the Year Due to the Application of Instructions of the Disengagement Decision on Them", Jordan Zad, July 12, 2008, http://jordanzad.com/jordan/news/117/ARTICLE/2137/2008-07-12.html (accessed December 22, 2009). Both the Jordan Times and Jordan Zad cited numbers in the low thousands for cases in which persons acquired Jordanian nationality over the same period, resulting in a net gain of Jordanian nationals.

[85] Muwaffaq Kamal, "Implementing 'Disengagement' Causes 2,732 Citizens to Lose Their Jordanian Nationality in Five Years", Al-Ghadd (Amman), June 28, 2009.

[86] Badarin, "Withdrawal of Nationalities in Jordan: Those Who Lost Their National Numbers Refuse to Become Bidun", Al-Quds Al-Arabi, http://www.alquds.co.uk/archives/2009/07/07-02/qfi.pdf .

[87] "'Interior' Clarifies Disengagement Instructions Concerning Yellow and Green Cards", Al-Arab Al-Yawm, http://ammonnews.net/article.aspx?ARticleNo=41930 .

[88] Iyad al-[illegible on copy], "Abu Salim:The Nationality of My Wife and Two of My Sons Was Withdrawn", Al-Ghadd, June 28, 2009.

[89] Badarin, "Withdrawal of Nationalities in Jordan: Those Who Lost Their National Numbers Refuse to Become Bidun", Al-Quds Al-Arabi, http://www.alquds.co.uk/archives/2009/07/07-02/qfi.pdf .

[90] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[91] Human Rights Watch email correspondence with Fadi, March 23, 2009.

[92] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[93] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[94] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[95] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[96] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.

[97] Human Rights Watch interview with Zahra, Amman, January 28, 2009.

[98] Human Rights Watch interview with Umm Randa Abdullah, Amman, January 26, 2009.

[99] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[100] Human Rights Watch interview with Basil, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[101] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[102] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, Amman, May 24, 2009.

[103] Human Rights Watch interview with May, Amman, April 3, 2009.

[104] Human Rights Watch interview with Rafiq, Amman, May 25, 2009.

[105] See Middle East Watch (now Human Rights Watch/Middle East and North Africa), Nowhere To Go: The Tragedy Of The Remaining Palestinian Families In Kuwait, October 23, 1991.

[106] I. Bakr, "Sovereignty and Abrogation of Nationality in Jordan" unpublished paper (in Arabic), Amman, 1995, cited in Abbas Shiblak, "Residency Status and Civil Rights of Palestinian Refugees in Arab Countries," Journal of Palestine Studies, p.41.

[107] Kamal, "Implementing 'Disengagement' Causes 2,732 Citizens to Lose Their Jordanian Nationality in Five Years", Al-Ghadd.

[108] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[109] Ibid.

[110] Human Rights Watch interview with Umm Randa Abdullah, Amman, January 26, 2009. Copies of family book and passport with national number of younger brother indicating place of birth, and of family book of Abu Rabb family on file with Human Rights Watch.

[111]Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[112]Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[113] Human Rights Watch interview with Basil, January 29, 2009.

[114] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.

[115] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, January 29, 2009.

[116] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[117] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, January 28, 2009.

[118] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[119] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, January 29, 2009.

[120] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, January 29, 2009.

[121] UNRWA Headquarters Amman, Letter from Acting Deputy Commissioner-General Dr. Mohammad Abdelmoumene to Director General, Department of Palestinian Affairs, Jordan, April 21, 1996.

[122] Letter by Fadi to minister of interior, undated, and Ministry of Interior, Letter by Minister of Interior Eid al-Fayez to Director of Follow-up and Inspection Department, Number 2-10/ /79247, May 20, 2007.

[123] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[124] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, January 29, 2009.

[125] Human Rights Watch interview with Nadim, husband of May, Amman, April 3, 2009.

[126] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[127] Human Rights Watch interview with Zahra, January 28, 2009.

[128] National Center for Human Rights, "Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2007)," March 2008, p. 37, and "State of Human Rights in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2008)," April 2009, p. 31.

[129] National Center for Human Rights, "Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2007)," March 2008, p.31

[130] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[131] Since the Declaration of Principles signed between Israel and the PLO in 1993, Palestinians have also been able to obtain a Palestinian-issued "passport." See "Residency Rights in the WEST BANK and the GAZA STRIP (excluding East Jerusalem)," Alternative Information Center's division Article 74, issue 8-9, May 1994, http://www.badil.org/Publications/Article74/1994/art8-9.htm (accessed August 26, 2009).

[132] "Deputy Dawud: No Harassment or Withdrawals of Nationality from the Cards Campaign", Al-Ghadd, July 22, 2008. The report based on Jordan news agency Petra detailed a visit to the Interior Ministry's Follow-up and Inspection Department by a member of parliament's Public Freedoms and Citizen Rights Committee, Fakhri Dawud, who sought to ascertain the propriety of procedures in granting renewals of yellow and green bridge crossing cards. Dawud further explained that Jordan's policies in this regard "served the Palestinian Authority and contributed to preserving the Arab identity of Jerusalem and the stability of its citizens there."

[133] Raja'i Dajani, "Withdrawal of Nationality."

[134] Mu'ayyid Abu Subaih, "Al-Sharif: What is Happening is a Correction of the Situation of Palestinians and Not Withdrawal of Nationality", Al-Ghadd, June 28, 2009.

[135] "'Interior' Clarifies Disengagement Instructions Regarding Yellow and Green Cards," Ammonnews.net, July 18, 2009, http://ammonnews.net/article.aspx?ArticleNo=41930 (accessed December 22, 2009) (emphasis added).

[136] King Hussein, "Address to the Nation," July 31, 1988, www.kinghussein.gov.jo .

[137] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[138] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, May 24, 2009.

[139] Human Rights Watch interview with Basil, January 29, 2009.

[140] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2008.

[141] Law of the High Court of Justice No 12, Official Gazette, no 3813, March 25, 1992, p. 516, art. 9.

[142] High Court of Justice, Decision 164/90, cited in The Palestine Yearbook of International Law 1990-1991, p. 70.

[143] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[144] Human Rights Watch interview with Rafiq, May 25, 2009.

[145] National Center for Human Rights, "Report on the State of Human Rights in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 2006," 2007, p. 31.

[146] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with a lawyer who has experience in cases of nationality withdrawal, name withheld on request, Amman, December 22, 2009.

[147] Decision 212/97, High Court of Justice, October 15, 1997, cited in Dajani, "Withdrawal of Nationality," p. 12.

[148] Decision 477/97, High Court of Justice, October 15, 1997, cited in Dajani, "Withdrawal of Nationality," p.14.

[149]Decision 212/97, High Court of Justice, October 15, 1997, cited in Dajani, "Withdrawal of Nationality," p.12.

[150] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[151] Human Rights Watch individual interviews with several persons who had lost their Jordanian nationality, Amman, January 29, 2009.

[152] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2008.

[153] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, May 24, 2009.

[154] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[155] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.

[156] Human Rights Watch interview with Umm Randa Abdullah, January 26, 2009.

[157] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[158] Human Rights Watch interview with Umm Randa Abdullah, January 26, 2009.

[159] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, January 29, 2009.

[160] See also the Yean and Bosico case, above. The Inter-American Court in that case (in para. 244 of the decision) required the state to "guarantee access to free primary education for all children, irrespective of their origin or parentage, which arises from the special protection that must be provided to children…"

[161]  See "Jordan: Government Pledges to Grant Iraqis Education, Health Rights," Human Rights Watch news release, August 15, 2007, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/08/15/jordan-government-pledges-grant-iraqis-education-health-rights.

[162] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[163] Human Rights Watch interview with Umm Randa Abdullah January 26, 2009.

[164] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, January 29, 2009.

[165] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[166] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[167] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[168] Human Rights Watch interview with Umm Randa Abdullah, January 26, 2009.

[169] Human Rights Watch interview with Basil, January 29, 2009.

[170] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[171] Human Rights Watch interview with Rafiq, May 25, 2009.

[172] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.

[173] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, January 29, 2009.

[174] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.

[175] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, January 29, 2009.

[176] Human Rights Watch interview with Darwish Qawasma, January 29, 2009.

[177] Human Rights Watch interview with Zahra, January 28, 2009.

[178] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, May 24, 2009.

[179] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.

[180] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[181] Human Rights Watch interview with Yusif Dawudiya, January 29, 2009.

[182] Human Rights Watch interview with Basil, January 29, 2009.

[183] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Walid, January 29, 2009.

[184] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali, May 24, 2009.

[185] Human Rights Watch interview with Fadi, May 24, 2009.

[186] Human Rights Watch interview with Abbas, May 24, 2009.