'0003r4
this law, as stated in Article 2 on definitions and Articles 23 to 30 thereof, travel
documents include passport, laissez-passer, collective laissez-passer, Autorisation
Sp6ciale de Circulation/Commmunaut6 Economique des Pays des Grands Lacs
(ASC/CEPGL), emergency travel document, refugee travel document and border
pass. lt is clear from this law that a passport is one of the forms of travel documents
issued in the Respondent State.
97. The Court notes further that, for people such as the Applicants who are living outside
their country, the passport is their main identification document. For such persons,
not having a valid passport exposes them to challenging situations, such as difficulty
in securing employment, renewing their residence permit, accessing education and
health services in the country they are residing in and restrictions in travel to their
own country and to other countries. ln such circumstances, the revocation of a
passport is not tantamount to a revocation of nationality, rather it impedes the full
and effective enjoyment of their civic and citizenship rights as Rwandan nationals.
98.The Court therefore finds that the claim that the revocation of the Applicants'
passports is tantamount to deprivation of their nationality has not been established
and is therefore dismissed.
B. Allegation of violation of rights relating to the arbitrary revocation of
passports
99.The Applicants allege that the invalidation of their passports by the Respondent
State has, as a consequence, rendered them stateless and violates their rights to:
freedom of movement, right to political participation, liberty, family life and work. The
Court will examine these allegations in turn.
23