ISRAEL: Repeated imprisonment of COs continues

Udi Segal and Uriel Ferera were reimprisoned on 29th September, both in Israel's Military Prison No. 6. This is Udi's fourth and Uriel's eighth imprisonment.

Send a protest email to the Israeli authorities here.

"We're using refusal as a tool in the struggle"

Udi and Uriel are two of the 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. An interview with Uriel in +972 Magazine can be found here, and watch a video of Uriel speaking about his refusal here.

For more info follow their facebook page: Conscientious objectors against the occupation (Hebrew page here).

Udi and Uriel claim their human right to conscientious objection, as guaranteed by Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (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 ICCPR, of which Israel is a signatory.

Solidarity

Protests are continuing in Israel against the imprisonment of Uriel and Udi, including outside the prison in which they are both being held. News of future protests will be shared by Refusal to serve in the IDF.

For those abroad, please send a protest email to Israel's Minister of Defence, which can be found at /node/23669

You can also write to Israel's embassies abroad. Find a list of these here.

Addresses for writing letters of support to them can be found here: /programmes/pfp

War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of all conscientious objectors.

Hannah Brock, War Resisters' International