Mordechai Vanunu is a former technician at Israel's nuclear plant near the southern town of Dimona. He spent 18 years in prison for revealing details of the country's nuclear arsenal to the British newspaper The Sunday Times in 1986.
He was abducted by Israeli secret service (Mossad) agents in Italy on 30 September 1986 and secretly taken to Israel. He was tried and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment: he spent the first 11 years in solitary confinement.
When he was released in April 2004 the Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on him, which violate his right to freedom of expression, association and movement. He is forbidden from communicating with foreigners, including journalists; is forbidden from leaving the country; he cannot go near foreign embassies and must inform the police if he wishes to change his habitual place of residence.
He recently contacted foreign journalists and attempted to leave Jerusalem for Bethlehem and has been sentenced again to 6 months community service in West Jerusalem, a predominantly Jewish-Israeli area, where he has been harassed and threatened on previous occasions.
Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities to immediately lift the restrictions imposed on Mordechai Vanunu, to allow him to leave the country if he wishes, and to exercise his rights to freedom of movement, association and expression while in Israel.
Join us in demanding these violations end.
EMAIL RECIPIENTS :
- Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister
- Prof. Yaakov Neeman, Minister of Justice
- Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Minister of Public Security
