On March 11, 2003 Ben Artzi was the first Israeli conscientious
objector to be court martialled since the 1970’s. Jonathan Ben Artzi,
despite once being noted as a "pacifist" by the Military Court, has
served more than 8 sentences for the same offense of refusing to
serve in the Israeli army. Jonathan Ben Artzi’s most recent
sentencing was for two months, issued on April 21, 2004. He is
currently serving an additional two month period for refusing to pay
the fine associated with that sentence.
On April 15, 2003 Matar, Kaminer, Zameret, Naor and Bahat were court
martialled as well for refusing to enlist in the army due to their
selective conscientious objection to the occupation of the
Palestinian territories. They were charged by the Israel Defense
Forces disciplinary courts without the assistance of a lawyer or the
hearing of any testimony concerning the crime of refusing to obey
orders. On January 5, 2004 they were sentenced to a year in prison,
after having spent a year in detention.
The Observatory recalls that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention determined in is Final Opinion No. 24/2003 that although,
at present, the rejection by a state of the right to conscientious
objection cannot be considered incompatible with international law,
the repeated penalties imposed on Jonathan Ben Artzi, Matan Kaminer,
Adam Naor and Noam Bahat violate the principle on non bis in idem and
therefore their detention is considered arbitrary. In addition, the
UN Human Rights Committee, the interpretive body for the
International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has
stated that, "the [ICCPR] does not explicitly refer to a right to
conscientious objection, but the [Human Rights] Committee believes
that such a right can be derived from article 18 [of the ICCPR]
inasmuch as the obligation to use lethal force may seriously conflict
with the freedom of conscience and the right to manifest one’s
religion or belief." Israel ratified the ICCPR on December 19, 1966.
While the Observatory welcomes the decision of early release for
these five selective conscientious objectors, they concurrently
denounce the Israeli Military’s general disregard of due process in
dealing with conscientious objectors. The Observatory urges the
Israeli authorities to recognize the right to conscientious objection
under the provisions of the ICCPR and to institute an alternative
civil service option. Most urgently, the Observatory urges the
Israeli authorities to comply with all international human rights
norms and call for the immediate and unconditional release of
Jonathan Ben Artzi and all prisoners whose sentences violate the
principle of non bis in idem.
For more information, see :
– Related Observatory Press Releases
March 12, 2003: Trial of conscientious objector Jonathan Ben Artzi
April 16, 2003: Conscientious objector faces court martial
December 15, 2003: Conscientious objection at stake
January 5, 2004: Sentence of one year imprisonment pronounced against
five Israeli conscientious objectors
January 19, 2004: The detention of the Refuzniks is arbitrary
April 23, 2004: Jonathan Ben Artzi sentenced to another 2 months in
prison
– Observatory Judicial Observation Report
Israel - Conscientious objectors tackled by military justice,
December 2003