The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Israel.
Description of the situation:
According to the information received, on July 2, 2007, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced Mr. Vanunu to six months’ imprisonment for “violating an administrative order” which aims at hindering his capacity to leave the country and to talk to foreign journalists.
In 1987, Mr. Vanunu had been condemned to 18 years in jail for revealing secret information on Israel’s nuclear capabilities to a UK-based newspaper [1]. The order restricting Mr. Vanunu’s fundamental rights had been issued on his release in 2004. However, he decided to ignore it by simply continuing to talk to journalists and trying to travel to the West Bank in the name of his freedoms of expression and movement, which are internationally recognised human rights.
The Observatory strongly condemns this administrative order as it blatantly violates freedoms of expression and of movement and merely aims at sanctioning a human rights defender who has long been struggling for the right to be freed from threat in a context of increasing tension in the Middle-East [2]. The Observatory further condemns the six-month sentence against Mr. Vanunu as it is based on an order which is contrary to international human rights standards.
The Observatory recalls that Israel must conform with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, its Article 6(a), which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (b) [...] to freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms; (c) to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters” as well as its Article 12.1 (“everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms”) and 12.3 (“[...] everyone is entitled, individually and in association with others, to be protected effectively under national law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means, activities and acts [...] attributable to States that result in violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms [...]).
The Observatory further recalls that freedoms of expression and of movement are universally recognised human rights and are also enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Israel has ratified.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Mordechai Vanunu;
ii. Cancel the above-mentioned administrative order against Mr. Vanunu as it is contrary to internationally recognised human rights standards;
iii. Ensure that Mr. Vanunu be granted a fair and impartial trial when appealing his sentencing;
iv. Put an end to any kind of harassment against all human rights defenders in Israel;
v. Comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular with above-mentioned Articles 1, 6(b), 6(c), 12.1 and 12.3;
vi. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international human rights instruments ratified by Israel.
Addresses:
* Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 651 2631 / 02-670-5475, E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il, pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
* Mr. Tzipi Livni, Minister, of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 Yitzhak Rabin Boulevard, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91035, Israel. Fax: +972 2 628 7757 / +972 2 628 8618 / + 972-2-5303367. Email: sar@mfa.gov.il
* Mr. Daniel Friedmann, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 628 7757 / + 972 2 628 8618 / + 972 2 530 3367. Email: sar@justice.gov.il / tifereth@justice.gov.il
* Ambassador Itzhak Levanon, Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, CH-1202, Geneva, Switzerland, E-mail: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il, Fax: +41 22 716 05 55
* Ambassador Stefan Gohanneson, Embassy of Israel in Brussels, 40 avenue de l’Observatoire, 1180 Uccle, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 373 56 17, Email: brussels@israel.org
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Israel in your respective country.
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Paris - Geneva, July 16, 2007.
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29