ISRAEL: Udi Segal imprisoned for refusing to join the army
On 28th July Udi Segal, a 19 year old conscientious objector from Kibbutz Tuval in Israel, was imprisoned for 20 days for refusing military service.
Send a protest email to the Israeli authorities here.
"We're using refusal as a tool in the struggle"
Udi is one of the 130 conscientious objectors who declared their refusal in a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister. Udi said “I cannot take part in an army that occupies another people and makes Israeli society more violent and apathetic to what is happening”.
Watch Udi explaining his decision here. A solidarity demonstration in support of Udi took place as he responded to his call up. Read about it here.
Udi Segal claims his human right to conscientious objection, as guaranteed by Article 18 of the ICCPR. In a decision from January 2007, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognised the right to conscientious objection as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, as guaranteed by Article 18 ICCPR. Repeated imprisonment is a violation of international legal standards. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Opinion 24/2003 on Israel came to the conclusion that the repeated imprisonment of conscientious objectors in Israel is arbitrary, and therefore it constitutes a violation of 14 par 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Israel is a signatory.
Solidarity
Send a letter of support via e-mail to Udi through New Profile, at messages2prison@newprofile.org.
A protest email to Israel's Minister of Defence can be sent at /node/23264
A list of Israel's embassies abroad can be found here.
As the violence in Gaza claims more lives, find out more about supporting Israeli and Palestinian refusers here. Many reservists have also been called up during the Israeli assault on Gaza. If you are subject to military service in Israel, and do not want to go, contact New Profile.
War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of conscientious objector Udi Segal and all other imprisoned conscientious objectors.
Hannah Brock, War Resisters' International