After 18 Years Israeli State to Release Vanunu on Short Leash!
international |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
Thursday April 15, 2004 13:00
by Dublin Catholic Worker & Pit Stop Ploughshares
pitstopploughshares at hotmail dot com
087 918 4552
All night Vigil at Dublin's Israeli Embassy April 20 -21
The international nonviolent movement against Weapons of Mass Destruction readies itself to welcome Mordachii Vanunu's deliverence from an Israeli prison. Vanunu has spent just short of 18 years in prison following his kidnapping by the Mossad in Rome. Vanunu exposed Israel's nuclear weapons program.
There will be an all night vigil outside the Israeli Embassy 122 Pembrooke Rd. Dublin D4. *Begins Tuesday April 20 7.30 pm *Multi faith service 8.30 pm *Walk to Dail Wed 11 am More info 087 918 4552
April 21, 2004.
If you can believe the word of the state of Israel, that is the day that Mordechai Vanunu will be released from prison for the crime of telling the world the truth about his government's secret nuclear weapons program. The date is just five months short of his full 18-year sentence.
On the eve of this release the Israeli State has announced restrictions to make Vanunu's existence impossible.
Vanunu can be rearrested if he
-approaches within 100 metres of an embassy.
-approaches within 300 metres of a national boundary
-moves to another city without receiving permission from the police
-communicates with any foreign nationals or media.
- Vanunu will also be denied a passport for an initial 6 months or allowed to leave the country
In January, it was reported that Israeli officials were considering various conditions and restrictions once Vanunu is released. On February 24, Prime Minister Sharon and other Israeli officials had a meeting to discuss their options. They reportedly decided that keeping Mordechai in administrative detention would likely not pass a High Court review, but they do plan to impose restrictions, including not allowing him to leave Israel.
But this is absurd. Mordechai Vanunu has been locked away from the world for almost 18 years. He has no more secrets to reveal and is not a threat to the security of the state of Israel.
There are of course many unknowns, but the international campaign is moving forward with plans for Mordechai's release, while carefully considering the different possibilities that might occur. 95 internatiohnal activists will be travelling to Israel to welcome the release. State restrictions will deny direct contact with a "freed" Vanunu.
Public pressure has brought important changes over the years. In 1998, pressure from his supporters around the world pried open the lock on Mordechai's isolation cell after his first eleven and one half years in solitary confinement. Israel once claimed that the transcript of Vanunu's closed door trial was so sensitive it could never be made public. But several years ago, bending to public pressure, it released most of the trial record and permitted the Knesset's first open debate on nuclear secrecy. And although Israel still officially denies that it has a nuclear arsenal, government censors are allowing increased coverage of the once taboo topic in Israel's mainstream media.
If the Israeli government doesn't unconditionally release Mordechai Vanunu, we will need your help to apply maximum pressure and demand that they do so.
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Jump To Comment: 4 3 2 1FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2004
Contact:
Jack Cohen-Joppa, U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
520-323-8697; call for Israel mobile #s.
Editors: Background info at www.vanunu.com.
VANUNU WELCOME PARTY GAGGED FOR PROTEST;
BROTHER FEARS FOR WHISTLEBLOWER'S SAFETY IN TENSE ISRAEL
Scores of international supporters of Mordechai Vanunu, their mouths gagged, will vigil outside his prison today. The gags are a symbolic protest of the suffocating restrictions (see below) Vanunu must face following his release from prison.
Vanunu, the long imprisoned nuclear whistleblower, is set to leave prison Wednesday morning but may not be free. Authorities have issued a set of restrictions (below) with the intent of "banning" Mordechai Vanunu from participating fully in civil society, at risk of further imprisonment.
Beginning at 1 p.m Israel time, some 90 international supporters from 13 countries will be joined by Israelis in the silent vigil. Representatives of the international delegation will remove their gags to speak at a press conference today at 5 p.m. Israel time (10 a.m. EDT), across the street from Shikma Prison in Ashkelon, Israel.
On Monday, the government slightly relaxed the banning order, telling Vanunu he would be permitted to discuss his abduction, but not his work at Dimona; while sustaining the bar to his leaving the country for at least one year. Other restrictions would be reviewed after six months.
"Small adjustments of the restrictions are not enough," his brother Meir told supporters. "My brother Mordechai is entitled to to leave the country. With the tense and difficult situation in the country, Israel will be unable to guarantee his safety."
Vanunu's supporters will return to the prison early Wednesday, where they will welcome him from the prison with flowers and the release of 18 white doves, one for each year of his prison witness against nuclear weapons and secrecy.
PRESS RELEASE
April 19, 2004 For immediate release
Contact: Rayna Moss, +972 051 368 236
Israeli Free Vanunu Campaign
For more information, see www.vanunu.co.uk, www.vanunu.com, www.vanunu.org
Vanunu Prison Video Broadcast Irks Supporters
The International Delegation currently in Israel to welcome Mordechai Vanunu after his release is appalled by the news that an interview videotaped last month with Vanunu at Ashkelon Prison will be broadcast on Israeli television this evening. Without his knowledge or consent, this is the first public media communication to Israel and the world from a man who has been silenced for the past 18 years, the first 11 _ of which were in solitary confinement.
At a visit this afternoon with Mordechai Vanunu, American adoptive parents Nick and Mary Eoloff said he told them he did not give his permission for the tape to be used for broadcast, and was not told that was the intent. He was told it was a routine procedure for prisoners nearing release.
The International Campaign to Free Vanunu continues to stand with Mordechai Vanunu in condemnation of nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East and around the world. We continue to look for a free and open debate on the more than 200 Israeli thermonuclear weapons his revelations exposed 18 years ago.
An international delegation, comprised of over 80 individuals from a dozen countries, will join together with Israelis at Ashkelon Prison when Mordechai Vanunu walks out of the prison gate on April 21, 2004.
The delegation will begin a vigil at Ashkelon Prison in anticipation of Vanunu's release at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20, and will be joined by others at 3 p.m. A press conference will be held across the street from the prison at 5 p.m. The delegates who will be speaking at the press conference are marked below with an asterisk. (*) In addition, Gideon Spiro of the Israeli Committee for Mordechai Vanunu and for a Middle East Free of Atomic, Biological and Chemical Weapons and Issam Makhoul, Member of Knesset will speak.
Restrictions to be faced by Mordechai Vanunu on release:
Mordechai Vanunu will face many restrictions on his release from Ashkelon Prison, so many that his new freedom will be seriously compromised.
" It is absolutely disgraceful that these restrictions are being imposed on a man who has finished his 18 year sentence, has no charges to face, and has suffered so much already" said Rayna Moss of the Israeli Free Vanunu Campaign.
These draconian restrictions have been imposed under the emergency regulations passed by the British mandate of 1945.
1. Vanunu will have to register to live in an Israeli city of his choice.
2. He will have to give notice to the authorities if he wishes to travel to another city.
3. He will not be allowed to leave Israel for 6 months. This restriction will be reviewed at the end of 6 months and could be renewed.
4. He will not be allowed to contact foreigners either by phone or in person.
5. It is unclear whether his American adoptive parents, who have been allowed to visit him while in custody, will be allowed to speak to him when free.
6. He will not be allowed to go within 100 meters of any embassy, visit any port of entry, come within 300 meters of any international boundary and he may not be allowed to worship in a church of his choice.
International Noteworthy Delegates
Nick and Mary Eoloff: Mordechai Vanunu's adoptive parents since 1997, from St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
* Mairaed Maguire: Irish Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1976 for her work towards building peace in Northern Ireland and founder member of the Peace People. Present in Israel with a delegation from Belfast and Dublin.
Reverend Ed Browning: Retired Bishop Episcopal Church, USA
Felice Cohen-Joppa: Coordinator, U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu. Tucson, Arizona, USA
* Jeremy Corbyn: Labour Party Member of Parliament. Vice chair of House of Commons Human Rights Committee. Active in supporting many civil liberty and international peace causes. Longtime supporter of the Campaign to Free Vanunu. G.B.
Bruce Kent: Past chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, present vice chairman. Member of the International Peace Bureau, tireless peace campaigner. Trustee of Campaign to Free Vanunu. G.B.
* Susannah York: International actor, well known from Hollywood films, theatre, radio and T.V., supporter of human rights causes and Trustee of Campaign to Free Vanunu. G.B.
Art Laffin: Associate coordinator, U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, Washington, D.C., USA. Member of the Catholic Worker Movement.
Barry Roth: Psychiatrist, peace and anti-nuclear activist, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
* Colin Breed : Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament. Active supporter of peace campaigns and long time supporter of Mordechai Vanunu in the House of Commons. G.B.
Ben Birnberg: Internationally known Civil Liberties and Human Rights Lawyer. Trustee of Campaign to Free Vanunu. G.B.
Ernest Rodker: Coordinator, British Campaign to Free Vanunu
Fredrik S. Heffermehl: lawyer, writer, translator and political organizer, Honorary President of the Norwegian Peace Alliance, Vice President of the International Peace Bureau, Vice President of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms, and other organizations, Norway
Pat Arrowsmith: Active in Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons since 1950's. One of the organizers of the first Aldermaston march and involved in many demonstrations against military bases involving arrest and imprisonment. Active in the Campaign to Free Vanunu. G.B.
Ole Kopreitan: executive director, Nei til atomvaapen (No to Nuclear Arms), longtime Vanunu campaigner, Norway.
-end-
Felice Cohen-Joppa
Coordinator
U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
POB 43384
Tucson, AZ 85733
Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
[email protected]
www.nonviolence.org/vanunu
April 16, 2004
Contact:
The U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
(in the US) 520-323-8697
The Israeli Committee for Mordechai Vanunu and for a Middle East Free of Atomic, Biological and Chemical Weapons - Tel. +972-02-6254530, +972-051-368236
International Outrage Over Israel's Further Punishment of Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu
The State of Israel has detailed its intention to continue punishing nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu even after he completes his 18-year prison sentence next Wednesday, April 21. The proposed restrictions, akin to South Africa's "banning" of apartheid's opponents, have sparked outrage world wide among advocates for human rights and nuclear disarmament. According to law, the restrictions are being appealed to the High Court. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel is representing Dr. Vanunu in these proceedings.
Officials who recently visited Ashkelon Prison informed Dr. Vanunu that he faces at least a year of additional restrictions. The restrictions would keep Vanunu in Israel and require advance notice if he wishes to leave the town of his residence. He would be prohibited from approaching any borders or embassies, and barred from possessing a cell phone, using the internet, or having any communication with foreigners at all, even those residing in Israel.
Here is a sampling of international condemnations:
Mary Eoloff [Minnesota, USA] adoptive mother of Mordechai Vanunu:
"This is a destructive decision for Mordechai. The terrible thing is, that the State is denying basic human rights to a person who has already completed his sentence. They are assuming in advance, that he will use his freedom of speech to speak out against Israel. He has the right of expression just like any citizen, and that cannot be taken away from him." [Yediot Ahronot -15 April 2004]
The Israeli Committee for Mordechai Vanunu and for a Middle East Free of Atomic, Biological and Chemical Weapons:
"The restrictions and prohibitions which the Sharon-Lapid government intends to impose characterize tyrannical regimes, and it is not surprising that the order was signed by the Homeland Defense Commander, based on the draconian State of Emergency Regulations, the legacy of the British Mandate. We wish to remind the public, that former Prime Minister Menachem Begin and two former Justice Ministers, Yakov Shimshon Shapira and Dov Yosef, denounced the regulations as being Nazi in nature."
Issam Makhoul, Israeli-Arab Member of the Knesset:
"When Mordechai Vanunu is released from that terrible cell in Ashkelon Prison, he will not leave behind a void; he will leave behind a shout, which should become the call for the emergence of an Israeli anti-nuclear movement."
Alyn Ware [New Zealand], Vice-President of International Peace Bureau and global coordinator of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament:
"The situation in the Middle East is very tense at the moment and the safety of well-known peace advocates is of concern. One of the parliamentary network members from Israel, Mr Issam Makhoul, who has spoken out on nuclear weapons issues in the Israeli parliament, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt recently, an action which prevented him from attending an international conference we were organizing on the issue. Given the tense situation, the presence of extremists willing to direct violence against individuals, and the fact that some reports in Israeli media have labelled Vanunu a traitor to the country, we would be concerned if he is prevented from leaving Israel, if that were to be his choice. It is in fact a fundamental and universal human right to be allowed to leave and return to one's country."
Felice Cohen-Joppa [Arizona, USA], Coordinator of the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
"With these restrictions, the Israeli government is building a special prison just for Mordechai Vanunu. This is an outrageous injustice not fitting for a democratic nation."
The international campaigns to free Mordechai Vanunu together denounce and protest the continued harassment of Dr. Mordechai Vanunu by the Israeli authorities and call on all people of conscience, in Israel and around the world, to join the struggle to lift all of these restrictions. The soon-to-be released Prisoner of Conscience deserves to live as a free person wherever he chooses.
More condemnations are expected as news of the additional punishment circulates.
-30-
Felice Cohen-Joppa
Coordinator
U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
POB 43384
Tucson, AZ 85733
Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
[email protected]
www.nonviolence.org/vanunu
http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/htdocs/action.htm