ISRAEL: Conscientious objector N.N. (name removed) sentenced to 11 days confinement at base

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War Resisters' International learned today that the Israeli conscientious objector N.N. will start serving his 11 days sentence of confinement to military base today. N.N. was originally sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, but was pressured to appeal against this sentence by his military reserve unit. The appeal was accepted and the sentence was commuted to 11 days of confinement to base.

N.N. (38) was called up to perform reserves service in the Occupied Territories and refused, however he in fact objects to military service altogether. His objection has developed relatively recently. He has performed full military service including reserves as an officer (and including service in the Occupied Territories). He has been strongly influenced by the events of the intifada in the recent year. He also reports he was influenced by cases of other objectors he heard about in the press.

His case was referred to the military Conscience Committee, but was not yet examined by it.

In a statement explaining his objection he claimed: "I oppose the occupation of the Territories and I refuse to take active part in this occupation. This occupation means trampling human rights in all forms and shades. I wish to be at peace with myself and to have a clear conscience. I am not willing to make compromises on my conscience just because of social norms".

N.N.'s punishment is relatively light. This is explained by the fact that the military judicial system is almost completely arbitrary (especially when soldiers are tried in their military units). While in previous cases we saw some unusually long sentences being delivered to objectors, this case shows the other side of this arbitrariness. Despite this, any punishment delivered to a CO is still a violation of human rights and of international law.

War Resisters' International calls for N.N.'s immediate release.

War Resisters' International calls for appeals on N.N.'s behalf to the list of recipients below.

War Resisters' International calls for letters of support to N.N. himself. His address at the base where he is held is:

N.N. (name removed) Military Personal Number xxxxxxx Military Postal Code 2783 IDF, Israel

Andreas Speck, War Resisters' International

LIST OF ADDRESSES

Military Attorney General, Military postal number 9605, IDF, Israel. Fax: +972-3-569-43-70

Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, IDF Chief of Staff, Ha-Qirya, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Fax: +972-3-569-55-94

Mr. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan st., Tel-Aviv 61909, Israel. e-mail: sar@mod.gov.il Fax: +972-3-696-27-57 / +972-3-691-69-40 / +972-3-691-79-15

Mr. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister Prime Ministers' Office, Qiriat David Ben-Gurion Jerusalem, Israel. e-mail: webmaster@pmo.gov.il Fax: +972-2-566-48-38 / +972-2-651-26-31

Addresses of Israeli media:


  • Ma'ariv: 2 Karlibach st. Tel-Aviv 67132 Israel Fax: +972-3-561-06-14 e-mail: editor@maariv.co.il

  • Yedioth Aharonoth: 2 Moses st. Tel-Aviv Israel Fax: +972-3-608-25-46

  • Ha'aretz (Hebrew): 21 Schocken st. Tel-Aviv, 61001 Israel Fax: +972-3-681-00-12

  • Ha'aretz (English edition): 21 Schocken st. Tel-Aviv, 61001 Israel Fax: +972-3-512-11-56 e-mail: letters@haaretz.co.il

  • Jerusalem Post: POB 81 Jerusalem 91000 Israel Fax: +972-2-538-95-27 e-mail: news@jpost.co.il or letters@jpost.co.il

  • Jerusalem Report: Fax: +972-2-537-94-89

  • Radio (fax numbers): Kol-Israel +972-2-531-33-15 and +972-3-694-47-09 Galei Tzahal +972-3-512-67-20

  • Television (fax numbers): Channel 1 +972-2-530-15-36 Channel 2 +972-2-533-98-09