1054 Refuseniks

Monday, 30 December, 2002, 11:57 GMT
Court rejects Israeli reservists' appeal

Israel's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a group of reserve soldiers who have refused to serve in the occupied territories.
The campaigners belong to "Courage to Refuse" - which rallies conscientious objectors who consider areas gained by Israel during the 1967 to be occupied illegally.

The court however did not address the legality of the occupation but whether conscientious objection is permissible in the army.

"Yesterday the objection was to [military engagement in] Lebanon... tomorrow it will be to dismantling certain settlements," a panel of judges said, adding reservists had to go wherever the army sent them.

According to a BBC correspondent, the lawyer representing the reservists said they had gained some ground.

Judges rejected the prosecution's accusation that the reservists were engaged in civil disobedience as their motives were political rather than moral.

The reservists are not typical conscientious objectors.

They are willing to serve in the army, but not if they are posted to the West Bank in Gaza, they say.

David Zonshein, who filed the petition, will return to prison where he is being held for refusing to serve in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.


"Our refusal to serve in the occupied territories is the most Jewish and Zionistic ideal that can be upheld in this situation," said Mr Zonshein after the hearing, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Other reservists say they will continue their fight by going to prison when they are called up for service in the occupied territories.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2614327.stm

Amnesty International has today written to Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Minister of Defence, to express concern over the imprisonment of Israeli conscripts and reservists who refuse to perform military service or to serve in the Occupied Territories, as they believe that by doing so they would contribute to, or participate in, human rights violations.

Some 180 conscientious objectors and refuseniks have been jailed in the past 26 months.

"Members of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) who commit grave human rights violations and war crimes, such as killing children and other unarmed civilians, recklessly shooting and shelling densely populated residential areas or blowing up houses on top of people and leaving them to die under the rubble are not brought to justice and held accountable for their acts."

"At the same time conscripts and reservists who refuse to serve, precisely to avoid participating in such acts, are sent to jail for months. What kind of message is such a policy sending to Israeli society?" Amnesty International asked.

The impunity enjoyed by IDF members responsible for human rights violations and the imprisonment of conscientious objectors are grave concerns, each in their own right; the combination of both constitutes an extremely worrying trend.

Conscripts who make it known that they are unwilling to serve on grounds of conscience and because they believe that the army is committing human rights violations are imprisoned, whereas other conscripts are routinely granted deferral or exemption from performing military service on religious grounds.

Draft resisters Jonathan Ben-Artzi and Uri Ya'acovi are presently serving their sixth consecutive prison sentences for refusing to serve in the Israeli army because of their conscientiously held beliefs. They have until now been sentenced to a total of 161 and 134 days respectively.

Amnesty International believes that all conscientious objectors should be given the opportunity to present the grounds of their objection to a decision-making body which is established by law and is impartial and independent.

"The draft resisters and refuseniks who are and have been imprisoned as a result of their conscientious objection are prisoners of conscience. Those currently detained should be released immediately and unconditionally," the organization said today.

http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/MDE151692002!Open

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