Imprisonment of conscientious objectors
Use this form to send the letter below to the relevant authority (Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Defence, Israel). You can add your own notes in a separate box after the standard text, if you wish.
You must include a name, address, and email address; a copy will be sent to you with a cc to the WRI office (so we have a record of how many email letters have been sent out for this particular case).
Dear Mr Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Defence
I am very concerned about the imprisonment of conscientious objectors in Israel. At present, 16 conscientious objectors are in Israeli military prisons - the six on court martials, and 10 other COs. All of them exercise their human right to conscientious objection. I learned today about the imprisonment of Konstantin Soskin (the 5th prison term), Yoel Perlman (the 4th prison term), Gil Avnimelch, Ariel Hendels, Laiv Tzahi, Peres Eezra, Tom Mehager, Iftach Cohen, Guy Shalev, and Ido Schachar.
I'm especially concerned about repeated imprisonment of some conscientious objectors - in some cases more than 6 times. I want to draw your attention to the opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which stated in 1999 that repeated imrprisonment of conscientious objectors is arbitrary, being contrary to article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
I therefore urge you to immediately release all imprisoned conscientious objectors. I urge you to respect human rights.
- Sign and send this protest email