Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects many different human rights, including the right to life, the right to freedom of movement, the right to fair trial and equality before the law.55 Israel’s violations of Palestinians’ rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are numerous and acknowledged by many external and independent bodies. For instance, the Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations of the fourth periodic report of Israel, reiterated its previous recommendation that Israel should amend its Basic Laws to ensure that all persons within Israel are treated equally and that Israel reviews all of its laws which discriminate against Palestinian citizens.56 In this chapter the focus will lie on the freedom of movement. Freedom of Movement within the oPt For Palestinians, freedom of movement within the oPt has become the exception rather than the norm.57 This stands in stark contrast to IHRL, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states in Article 12 (1) that “[e]veryone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.”58 The Human Rights Committee has commented on the possibilities of restricting the right to freedom of movement and emphasized that, although Article 12(3) does make certain restrictions possible, under no circumstances can a state impose restrictions on the 55 UN General Assembly, “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, 16 December 1966. Available at: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20999/volume-999-I-14668English.pdf 56 UN Human Rights Committee, “Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Israel (Advance Unedited Version)”, October 2014, page 3. Available at: http://www.ccprcentre.org/ doc/2014/10/CCPR_C_ISR_CO_41.doc 57 See for example World Bank Technical Team, “Movement and Access Restrictions in the West Bank: Uncertainty and Inefficiency in the Palestinian Economy”, 9 May 2007, page 1. Available at: http:// siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WestBankrestrictions9Mayfinal.pdf 58 UN General Assembly, “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, 16 December 1966. Available at: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20999/volume-999-I-14668English.pdf 23