Imprisonment of conscientious objector Yahel Avigur

en
Activist
Country
Not sent after

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 objector Yahel Avigur.
Yahel Avigur, a pacifist conscientious objector, was sentenced on 27 February to 28 days in military prison. This is already his second prison term, as he spent 14 days in prison in late October and early November 2004.
Yahel Avigur had appeared before the Conscience Committee after his first prison term, but has been rejected, although no formal notification has been given to him so far.
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 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Israel is a signatory.
In addition, Israel does not recognise the human right to conscientious objection, contrary to article 18 of the ICCPR.
I therefore urge you to immediately release Yahel Avigur and all imprisoned conscientious objectors. I urge you to respect human rights.