Vanunu:
Almost Free
And At Home In Norway
By Eileen Fleming
17 May,
2008
Countercurrents.org
On May 16, 2008, I received
an email from Fredrik S. Heffermehl, in Oslo, Norway. Fredrik is an
author, lawyer, Hon. President, Norwegian Peace Alliance, Ex Vice
President, International Peace Bureau, Vice Pres, International Assn.
Lawyers against Nuclear Arms, and the driving force for the International
Free Vanunu Committee; a politically active group working to secure
Vanunu's right to work and stay permits, asylum and a Norwegian passport.
On May 15, 2008, Fredrik wrote:
Dear colleague,
In the last 6 weeks there has been a tremendous interest in Norway for the liberation of Mordechai Vanunu, Israel's nuclear hostage…there is both a strong feeling of sorrow and indignation in Norway about the plight of Vanunu…the first 100 signatories include nearly 25 "professors dr. of law" and a very solid list of over 60 lawyers involved in foreigner's law, immigration, asylum and refugee law, human rights and international law…under international law any country is entitled to grant asylum and issue a passport for a foreigner in need of protection on humanitarian grounds, even those under foreign jurisdiction…it is clear for everyone to see that Israel is violating the principles of law and democracy. We hope the cabinet of Norway will in discrete forms convince colleagues in Israel that the 60 years anniversary is a good occasion for Israel to appear as a state under the rule of law by releasing Mordechai.
Fredrik
S. Heffermehl,
http://www.vanunu.org/
2008 is also the 60th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights upon which Israel's very statehood was contingent upon upholding.
Article 19:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article
13:
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within
the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own,
and to return to his country.
In 1963, when Vanunu was nine years old the Zionists came to his home town of Marrakech, Morocco and convinced his Orthodox father to abandon his general store and pack up the first seven of eleven children for the land of milk and honey. The Vanunu's were banished to the desert of Beesheva, a few months after Shimon Peres, then Israel's Deputy Minister of Defense met with President John Kennedy, inside the White House.
Kennedy told Perez, "You know that we follow very closely the discovery of any nuclear development in the region. This could create a very dangerous situation. For this reason we monitor your nuclear effort. What could you tell me about this?"
Peres replied, "I can tell you most clearly that we will not introduce nuclear weapons to the region, and certainly we will not be the first."
By September of 1986, Peres was convulsing over Vanunu, who had been employed as a lowly tech in his progeny; the secret underground nuclear weapons centre in Dimona. Peres ordered the Mossad, to "Bring the son of a bitch back here."
Peres ordered Vanunu's kidnapping that included a clubbing, drugging and being flung upon an Israeli cargo boat back to Israel for a closed door trial.
In 1985, before quitting the Dimona, Vanunu shot 56 photos of the
top-secret labs and production processes that proved Israel had become
a major nuclear power by stockpiling between 100 and 200 atomic bombs
within the six underground levels where plutonium production, and
secret nuclear weapons were assembled without any knowledge, debate
or authorization from its own citizens. Israel has yet to allow International
Inspectors into the aged Dimona plant which is leaking and endangering
the health of its own citizens.
In 1986, Vanunu was sentenced to 18 years for treason and espionage and spent nearly twelve years of it in solitary confinement. For 18 years Vanunu was isolated in a tomb sized cell without a window; a well known form of torture that can cause deep emotional scars and mental impairment. During this period Vanunu was subjected to constant harassments and humiliations by the Mossad to break his will. Amnesty International described the conditions of his ordeal as "cruel, inhuman, and degrading."
For the last four years Vanunu has walked the streets of east Jerusalem and attended churches and political meetings he has met thousands of internationals, pilgrims and tourists. Everyone he has crossed paths with feels sorrow and indignation over his situation. If they are a Christian they also feel anger at Israel for their denying a Christian the right to leave Jerusalem and fade into history, instead of keep making it.
But, the wind of opportunity for Israel to get some good PR, blows
from Norway in The Norwegian Lawyer's Petition for Vanunu:
Norway should grant Vanunu asylum and demand that Israel allows him to leave the country.
This petition, signed by lawyers and law students, urges the Norwegian
Government to grant Mordechai Vanunu asylum and influence Israeli
authorities to lift the ban prohibiting him from leaving the country.
In 1986 Vanunu was sentenced to prison for having told the British paper, The Sunday Times, that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. He was kept for 11 years in solitary confinement and served the full prison term of 18 years. After his release from jail in April 2004 Vanunu has been under strict official control, including a ban against travel, advance approval of his domicile on territory under Israeli control, prohibitions against talking with foreigners, and approaching foreign embassies and the Israeli border, etc.
These restrictions constitute a very severe, indefinite, additional punishment. They violate the rights of Vanunu under the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Israel has ratified, including Article 19 on freedom of speech, Article 12 on freedom of movement and freedom to choose domicile and Article 7 prohibiting degrading treatment.
We may have varying ideas on how the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab world should be solved. We note, however, that Vanunu gave the world evidence of the existence of an Israeli nuclear arsenal. Israel possesses nuclear weapons in contravention of the purpose of the 1986 Non-Proliferation Treaty, which only Israel, along with India, Pakistan and North Korea, have refused to join. The use of nuclear weapons is, in view of inter alia the consequences for civilians, against international law, as a general principle also in self defense.
In some cases it is not only morally praiseworthy, but also justified under law, for a person to refuse to obey the laws of the land and orders of their superiors. In keeping with this and the ideas on individual responsibility expressed by the Nuremberg tribunal after World War II, Vanunu should be considered a whistleblower entitled to the protection of the international community.
In 2005, the Norwegian competent authority in charge of asylum questions (UDI), correctly considered the treatment of Vanunu since his release in 2004 as a case of persecution under the Convention on Refugees and the Norwegian act on foreigners. It is not a requirement that an applicant for asylum is under Norwegian jurisdiction when the application is launched and the Government of Norway is undoubtedly entitled to grant Vanunu a permit to stay in Norway on humanitarian grounds and issue a Norwegian passport for foreigners to him, while he is still in Israel.
By delivering 20 tons of heavy water to Israel in 1959, without proper control that the shipment was not used for production of nuclear weapons, Norway gave a decisive contribution to Israel's development of nuclear weapons. This gives the Norwegian government a special reason to demonstrate that our opposition to nuclear arms and proliferation is real and credible, by ensuring that Vanunu is permitted to travel to Norway and offering him a decent life here.
Specifically, we call on the Norwegian government to urgently implement the following three-point action plan within the framework of international and Norwegian law:
1. The Government must direct the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), under the rules on transfer refugees, to grant Vanunu permission to work and stay in Norway, based on his need for protection (on humanitarian grounds), with the intention to offer Vanunu asylum upon his entry into Norway.
2. At the same time the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration should be directed to issue a Norwegian passport for foreigners, enabling Vanunu to travel to Norway without an Israeli passport.
3. As a final step, Norway should inform Israel that Vanunu has been granted a permit to work and stay in Norway, and via courier make sure that Vanunu receives the documents on the decisions together with the Norwegian passport for foreigners, and then request Israel to allow him to travel to Norway.
Implementation of this three-point plan will show that Norway is taking human rights violations seriously, even when they occur in countries with whom Norway has close relations. At the same time it may help solving a situation that today is causing serious harm to the reputation of Israel, both in Norway and elsewhere in the world.
Sincerely,
Fredrik
S. Heffermehl
Jens Petter Berg Jan Fridthjof Bernt Jan Borgen
Kirsti Strøm Bull Asbjørn Eide Terje Einarsen
Ståle Eskeland Cathrine Grøndahl Trude Haugli
Fredrik S. Heffermehl Gro Hillestad Thune Mette Yvonne Larsen
Ketil Lund Gunnar Meyer Knut Rognlien
Jon Rud Cecilie Schjatvet Haakon Skaug
Frode Sulland Ingjald Ørbeck Sørheim Geir Ulfstein
Edvard Vogt Øivind Østberg Henriette Sinding Aasen
For further developments in Norway:
http://www.vanunu.org
________________________________________________
On May 13, 2008, Vanunu wrote:
Dear Friends,
Today I was in the court appealing 6 months prison sentence. The 3 judges tried to convince the Government Lawyer to find for me community service in East Jerusalem. But without success.
So the
3 judges decided to hear the appeal on July 8, at 13:00. After that
we will get their sentence again, if 6 months prison, or some thing
else. All this after 18 years in Israel prison, plus 4 years under
new restrictions not to leave this country.
All the best,
vmjc
http:/www.vanunu.com
VANUNU MORDECHAI J C.
KIDNAPPED IN ROME SEP' 30 TH'-1986.
AFTER 18 YEARS IN ISRAEL PRISON.
Waiting In East Jerusalem.To Be Free,To Leave.
P.O.Box 20102. Salah Adin St'.
post office. East Jerusalem. 91384..
Mobile ( 9 7 2 ) 0 5 2 3 7 4 4 5 6 9.
