Latest Press Releases

April 22 2005

Vanunu restricted from leaving the country for another year

International group protests at Dimona on first anniversary of Vanunu's release from Ashkelon prison *

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On April 21, the one year anniversary of his release from Ashkelon Prison, Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu learned that Minister of the Interior, Ophir Paz-Pines, signed the document that continues the restrictions forbidding Vanunu from leaving the country for another year. The remainder of the restrictions given to him upon his release from prison last April were also renewed, with the addition of now being forbidden to speak about nuclear weapons at all, including information that has already been published. Additionally, Vanunu is now not allowed to enter the West Bank.

The same day, over 50 activists from Israel and around the world gathered at the Dimona nuclear facility in the Negev Desert, where Vanunu worked more than 20 years ago. With the Dimona reactor dome visible in the distance, the group held signs calling for worldwide nuclear abolition and complete freedom for Mordechai Vanunu. Demonstrators scattered ashes across the sand, symbolizing the destruction of a nuclear explosion.

The first speaker at the demonstration was Ryoko Noma of Hiroshima, Japan, who spoke movingly of the aftermath and suffering of the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Carmel Martin of London, England read this message from Mordechai Vanunu: "Dimona is a real holocaust. The Israelis are producing genocide weapons here. End the production of these genocide weapons. Shut Dimona."

Other speakers included Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, Kathy Kelly from Voices in the Wilderness, Chicago, U.S., Israeli poet Mati Shmuelov, Knesset member Issam Makhoul, and Israeli anti-nuclear activists Akiva Orr and Rayna Moss.

Today, April 22, the international delegation currently in Israel to call for the lifting of Vanunu's restrictions, will culminate their week's activities with a vigil at Jerusalem's Paris Square starting at 10 a.m., holding photos of Mordechai Vanunu with signs that read:

"We are All Mordechai Vanunu" and "Wherever We Are, Vanunu Is".

* Also see 22 April 2005 Letter to Ariel Sharon from the International Delegation in Israel (on Latest News & Take Action page)

April 20 2005

INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION IN ISRAEL CONDEMNS RENEWAL OF VANUNU'S RESTRICTIONS AS KNESSET COMMITTEE MEETS

International and Israeli activists gathered to vigil outside the Knesset prior to a delegation attending a hearing of the Knesset Committee on Constitition, Law and Judiciary about Mordechai Vanunu's restrictions. They arrived to learn that the restrictions were renewed for another year, and Minister of Interior, Opir Paz-Pines, declared that he would not consider issuing a passport to Vanunu for another 12 months, keeping Vanunu from leaving Israel until at least April 2006.

Vanunu's supporters who testified at the Knesset hearing were Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Maguire, ex-European Parliament member, Jakob von Uexkull, and international human rights lawyer, Michael Ellman. Also attending were Vanunu's adoptive American parents Nick and Mary Eoloff, Israeli member of the International Campaign to Free Vanunu, Rayna Moss, and Israeli retired nuclear phyisist Calman Altman. They were accompanied by Knesset Member, Issam Makhoul, who requested this unique hearing.

At the hearing, the points stressed by the speakers concentrated on the human rights issues relating to the restrictions, how they violate international law, the injustice of Vanunu's restrictions being renewed before the Knesset hearing took place, as well as the absurdity of Vanunu being a threat to state security.

Because of time constraints the Committee Chairman, Michael Eitan, agreed that the Committee would re-convene on the matter of Vanunu's restrictions in the near future.

Following the hearing, a press conference was held where Maguire, von Uexkull and Ellman summarized their testimony. In addition, Rayna Moss, Issam Makhoul, Nick Eoloff and Calman Altman addressed the press. Mordechai Vanunu then severely criticised the restrictions placed on him for another year, calling them a violation of his human rights and freedom of speech. He also stressed his continued call for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and world.

Then within a ring of press cameras, von Uexkull presented Vanunu with the Right Livelihood certificate for his courageous stance against nuclear weapons on behalf of the world, which had been awarded to him 18 years before but he had not been able to receive because of his long imprisonment.

The day ended with a candlelight vigil in West Jerusalem near the residence of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Holding candles and banners reading "He Told the Truth, Let Vanunu Go" in Hebrew, Arabic and English, Israelis and the international delegation of Vanunu supporters leafleted and talked with passersby.

The international delegation includes over 40 people from the U.K., U.S., Japan, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, and Ireland, who have come to Israel to call on the government to give Mordechai Vanunu his full freedom. Their activities continue until April 22, and include vigils at the Ministries of Justice and Defense, and an anti-nuclear demonstration at Dimona on April 21, the one year anniversary of Vanunu's release from Ashkelon Prison.

April 15 2005

Invitation to Press Conference Tuesday, April 19, 2005, 14:30

Ambassador Hotel, Nablus Road, Sheikh Jerrah, East Jerusalem

"The [restriction] order does not have to be reasonable, it is legal" (prosecutor at hearing in Vanunu's trial, April 12, 2005)

An international delegation, organized by the International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, will be in Israel from April 18 to 22, to protest the threatened renewal of the restrictions imposed on Mordechai Vanunu and his trial for speaking with the media. Together with Israeli activists, the delegation will conduct activities in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Dimona.

On April 19, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee will finally convene to discuss the issue of Mordechai Vanunu's status under the restrictions, after an earlier meeting was cancelled and after the security establishment has already decided Vanunu's fate. Adv. Dan Yakir (Israel), Adv. Michael Ellman (U.K.), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire, and Nuclear Physicist Colman Altman (Israel), will be among the participants in this discussion. Supporters of Mordechai Vanunu will call for his freedom at a vigil in the rose garden adjacent to the Knesset from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Following the discussion at the Knesset, the International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu will hold a press conference featuring:

• Adv. Michael Ellman (U.K.), Solicitors International Human Rights Group, FIDH, ICJ
• Ms. Mairead Maguire (Ireland), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1976 Knesset Member Issam Makhoul
• Jakob von Uexkull (Sweden), Founder and Chair of the Right Livelihood Award (the "Alternative Nobel Prize")
• Ms. Lucy Mair (U.S.A.), Human Rights Watch - Mordechai Vanunu

Mordechai Vanunu will be presented with the Right Livelihood Award, the first prize he was awarded, in 1987, but was not allowed to receive in prison.

The press conference will be held in English

March 28 2005

WHISTLEBLOWER GIVEN EARLY TRIAL DATE

"Prosecution Overeager to Silence Vanunu"

With highly unusual haste, Mordechai Vanunu was given official notice on March 28, that the first court date on charges of violating the restrictions that were imposed on him last year, will begin on April 6. Vanunu was informed of the inditctment less than two weeks earlier, on March 17. Vanunu is charged with violating the restrictions by granting interviews to foreign media and "attempting to leave the country" (for his bid to attend Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem last December).

Mordechai Vanunu, who in 1986 blew the whistle on Israel's secret nuclear program, was released from prison in April 2004, after serving his full sentence of 18 years imprisonment. Immediately upon his release, Vanunu was placed under a series of restrictions, based on the British Mandate State of Emergency Regulations of 1945. Denounced by major human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the restrictions prohibit Vanunu from making any contact with foreign nationals, speaking to the media, leaving Israel, coming within 300 meters of a foreign embassy or international borders and even changing his place of residence without approval from Israeli security agencies.

Speed is not the only irregularity in the prosecution of Mordechai Vanunu. The State has included civil rights attorney Oded Feller, of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, in the list of witnesses for the prosecution. Feller was one of the ACRI lawyers who represented Vanunu in his 2004 appeal against the restrictions, which was ultimately turned down by the Supreme Court. ACRI protested the inclusion of Feller in the list of witnesses in a letter to State Attorney Eran Shendar.

The prosecution of Mordechai Vanunu for violating the restrictions has been condemned by organizations and prominent figures around the globe. Veteran Israeli security commentator Yossi Melman wrote in Ha'aretz newspaper:

"Yehiel Horev did it again. The man in charge of field security for the defense establishment proved once again that his impulses overcome all logic." (March 23)

The International Federation of Journalists, representing more than 500,000 journalists in 110 countries, issued a special statement on March 18, in which the organization accused Israel of "bullying and intimidation in its continuing campaign against Mordechai Vanunu".

"Israel is creating a new crime - of talking to journalists," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "It is a shocking betrayal of democratic principles in what is a vindictive campaign of bullying and intimidation against a man who has served his time."

On March 25, Colin Fox, leader of the Scottish Socialist party, asked First Minister Jack McConnell, to act for enabling Vanunu to visit Scotland and take up his role as rector of Glasgow University. Vanunu was elected as rector by the students of Glasgow University in December 2004.

Mary and Nick Eoloff, Vanunu's American adoptive parents, stated: "We are aghast at the appalling accusations made against Mordechai. There are no crimes to be tried. Mordechai continues to act as a human person with all of the rights due the dignity of being a person. How shocking that Israel continues to call itself a democracy. Shame on Israel."

Rayna Moss, an Israeli with the International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, today expressed concern about the haste in which the Israeli prosecution is acting against the whistleblower. "In a country in which people often wait for many months for their day in court, the prosecution is being exceptionally quick in its campaign to silence Mordechai Vanunu. The overeagerness of the prosecution in this case indicates, that the judicial system is being prodded into action by a vindictive security establishment. This is a blatant attempt to avoid any public discussion of the use of the 1945 Emergency Regulations against Israeli citizens.

Israel's attempt to criminalize Vanunu for speaking to the world media cannot conceal the real crime in this case: a rogue country that maintains a secret nuclear program hidden from its citizens and from the world. Prosecuting and persecuting Vanunu will not make Israel's WMDs disappear from the sight of the international community."

March 17 2005

CHARGES SERVED AGAINST VANUNU: A SHAMEFUL ATTEMPT TO SILENCE WHISTLEBLOWER

On the afternoon of March 17, Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear whistleblower who spent 18 years in prison for exposing Israel's secret nuclear program, was served with official notice, that he is to be brought to trial for speaking to the international media. Vanunu, receiving sanctuary at St. George's Cathedral in East Jerusalem since his release from prison last April, has been charged with violating the restrictions that were imposed against him upon his release from prison. The restrictions, based on the British Mandate State of Emergency Regulations of 1945, prohibit Vanunu from making any contact with foreign nationals, speaking to the media, leaving Israel, coming within 300 meters of a foreign embassy or international borders and even changing his place of residence without approval from Israeli security agencies. Vanunu is also charged of "attempting to leave the country," for his bid to attend Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem, in December 2004. Vanunu is not being charged with any security breaches or divulging information concerning Israel's nuclear program, rather, simply for the fact that he granted interviews to international media.

The restrictions against Vanunu, which will expire next month but may be renewed indefinitely, were denounced at a press conference held by the Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu yesterday in East Jerusalem. A panel of international lawyers and public figures had come to Israel to lobby for Vanunu's full freedom. Attorney Fredrik Heffermehl (Norway), an expert on international law who was part of the international delegation, said today:

"The charges against Vanunu are a red flag to the world media. A man is actually being charged for the "crime" of speaking to reporters."

Rayna Moss, an Israeli with the International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, stated: "A government with grave security, public safety and social problems to deal with; a government that includes several members who are under investigation on criminal and corruption suspicions; a government that continues to pursue a secret nuclear program that it conceals from its own citizens and from the world - is prosecuting a citizen merely for speaking to the media. This is a shameful attempt to silence Vanunu and a gross violation of his human rights. The restrictions against Vanunu should be revoked immediately, these pathetic charges should be withdrawn and he should be let free."

The British Campaign fully endorses everything by Rayna Moss and Fredrik Heffermehl regarding the outrageous charges just brought against Mordechai Vanunu for not complying with restrictions that have severely compromised his human rights and freedom of speech.

Quite rightly, as he challenged the authorities during his long prson sentence by not apologising for telling the truth about Israel's nuclear weapons, so has he continued to courageously stand by his democratic rights since his release from prison.

March 16 2005

Download Word version of this press release

KNESSET CONSTITUTION, LAW AND JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CANCELS DEBATE OF VANUNU'S RESTRICTIONS

Prominent International Delegation Calls on Israel to Cancel the Restrictions, Let Vanunu Go Free

The cancellation of a Knesset committee debate about the severe restrictions on nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu's liberty and human rights was roundly condemned today at a Jerusalem press conference. Prominent international observers of the Vanunu case who had come to address the Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee also spoke out, and called for Vanunu's full freedom.

Rayna Moss, an Israeli with the International Campaign to Free Vanunu, explained that Knesset Member Issam Makhoul (Hadash) had requested weeks ago that the Committee convene to discuss the grave situation regarding Vanunu, which was agreed to by Committee Chairman Michael Eitan and scheduled for March 16. Makhoul continues to push the Committee to convene on this issue. Moss said, "The cancellation means that one month before the restrictions are renewed or cancelled, not one government official has voiced a position. The attorney general has not addressed the issue. Security forces have not made any public statement and the Israeli Parliament has refused to take responsibility over this issue. This is coupled with a frivolous statement by three Israeli politicians who spent two hours at the Dimona reactor and announced that it was safe. Through both of these events the Israeli government is treating the Israeli public as children who can be told fairytales. Mordechai Vanunu is ultimately portrayed as the big bad wolf who needs to be isolated from society or as the little boy who cries the king has no clothes. We refuse to accept fairytales, we refuse to be silenced, and we demand Vanunu's freedom."

Mordechai Vanunu spoke about the restrictions that forbid him from leaving Israel and rebuilding his life, even though he served his complete 18 year prison sentence and there are no new charges against him. Vanunu said, "I have no more secrets to tell and have not set foot in Dimona for more than 18 years. I have been out of prison, although not free, for one year. Despite the illegal restrictions on my speech, I have again and again spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons anywhere and by any nation. I have given away no sensitive secrets because I have none. I have not acted against the interests of Israel nor do I wish to. I have been investigated by the police again and again, and re-arrested twice, but they have found nothing. I have done nothing but speak for peace and world safety from a nuclear disaster...

I did not seek to harm Israel, but rather to warn of an enormous danger. I do not seek to harm Israel now. I want to work for world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. I want the human race to survive." Vanunu also said, "I'd like to address world leaders here for the Holocaust Museum ceremony. They have come to commemorate the Jewish holocaust which took place 60 years ago but they must acknowledge that the threat of a future holocaust is the nuclear holocaust."

Also speaking at the press conference were Daniel Ellsberg (U.S.A.), author and former Pentagon employee who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers; attorney Jennifer Harbury (U.S.A.), author and director of the U.U.S.C. STOP Torture Campaign; and attorney Fredrik S. Heffermehl (Norway), author and Vice President of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms.

The three had travelled to Israel from the United States and Norway on the basis of the understanding that they would testify today at the hearing of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee, only to arrive in Israel and learn that it had been cancelled.

Daniel Ellsberg explained that he and Vanunu were both the first people in their countries to be prosecuted for giving secret information to the press. He said, "Mordechai Vanunu has no secret information. He has one huge secret which he revealed on April 21 last year - That after 18 years of imprisonment and solitary confinement and mistreatment a person can still come out sane, articulate, compassionate. This is the secret that no regime wants its citizens to know." He added, "Mordechai is a prophet, and the scriptures say that prophets are never appreciated in their own country." In speaking of the need to lift the restrictions against Vanunu, Ellsberg stated, "At the time of the American revolution, when we freed ourselves from the British empire, we didn't retain any of their laws and regulations. The time has come for the state of Israel to also free itself from the State of Emergency regulations of the British Empire."

Citing several articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, U.S. human rights attorney Jennifer Harbury concluded that "the restrictions that have been placed upon Mordechai Vanunu represent extraordinary infringements of his rights".

Harbury stated, "For the last several years of his imprisonment, Mr. Vanunu was permitted to mingle with other prisoners. In addition, he has now been out of prison for nearly a year, and despite the restrictions, has courageously spoken publicly again and again for nuclear abolition and human rights. If he possessed any additional information, or if he wished to harm Israel in any way, he has had numerous opportunities to do so. Yet he has not. Time itself has proven the government claims of security risks are frivolous. Keeping him here does not change the equation....

"By refusing to let Mr. Vanunu go in peace to start a new life after so much suffering, Israel casts itself as both cruel and vindictive. He is not safe here and the authorities have contributed to this problem by vilifying him unjustly. Moreover, Israel does not come to this matter with clean hands. Mr. Vanunu was illegally kidnapped, battered, drugged and then subjected to extraordinary psychological torture for over 11 years. There has been no justice for any of these wrongs. The time has come for the government, too, to set its house straight by showing reason and balance here." Fredrik Heffermehl said, "Avoiding discourse and discussion does not remove the problems - openness and discussion can help us find ways out. That was the idea behind Vanunu´s action. The time is ripe for the Israeli public to consider why so many people all over the world consider Vanunu as the leading Israeli in the worldwide political struggle against nuclear extinction."

The restrictions that were imposed on Vanunu (prohibiting him from traveling abroad, contacting foreign citizens and media, and controlling his movement inside Israel) severely curtail his civil and human rights. They are based on the 1945 State of Emergency Regulations, first introduced in Mandatory Palestine by the British Mandate and since then they have been continually renewed by the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). The State of Emergency Regulations enable the State to penalize people without trial, and can be renewed indefinitely. In July 2004 Israel's Supreme Court rejected Vanunu's appeal of the restrictions.

The restrictions will next be reviewed on April 21, the one year anniversary of Vanunu's release. At that time, an international delegation organized by the International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu will come to Israel to call for lifting the restrictions and allowing Mordechai Vanunu to leave Israel, as he wishes.

March 14 2005

Invitation to Press Conference
Wednesday, March 16, 2005, 14:30
Ambassador Hotel, Nablus Road, Sheikh Jerrah, East Jerusalem

International Delegation of Lawyers and Public Figures: Cancel the Restrictions, Let Vanunu Go Free

Participants:

• Daniel Ellsberg (U.S.A.): Whistleblower, Pentagon Papers; author, lecturer
• Attorney Jennifer Harbury, (U.S.A.): Expert on International Law, Director
• of STOP Torture Campaign
• Attorney Fredrik Heffermehl, (Norway): V. Pres., International Ass. of
• Lawyers Against Nuclear Weapons
• Knesset Member Issam Makhoul, Hadash
• Mordechai Vanunu

Nearly one month before the restrictions that were imposed against Mordechai Vanunu upon his release from prison in April 2004, which prohibit him from contacting foreign nationals, leaving Israel or changing his place of residence without permission from security authorities, a delegation of lawyers and public figures from the U.S.A. and Europe has arrived in Israel, intending to address the Knesset Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee and to call for Mordechai Vanunu's freedom. The Knesset Committee has evaded its responsibility to discuss the grave situation, in which a citizen is penalized for a second time, after completing the full sentence imposed by the Court, by means of State of Emergency Regulations dating from the British Mandate.

Members of the international delegation will address the violations of international law resulting from the restrictions that are imposed against Mordechai Vanunu and the impact on the nuclear arms race in the Middle East and around the world.

Most participants will speak in English.

Read Vanunu's statement at the press conference

VANUNU WAS FREED ON 21ST APRIL 2004
YET STILL REMAINS HELD IN ISRAEL AGAINST HIS WILL