THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE VANUNU and For a Nuclear Free Middle East. NEWSLETTER: autumn 1992 > I'm not a traitor. I'm a man with a conscience who did what he > did out of a deep belief after much thought and many doubts. But > I knew that I had to do it, that I had no choice. There's no one > else that could have done it. And somebody had to do it. -Mordechai Vanunu (20/XI/87) MORDECHAI NEEDS US Six years have passed since Israel kidnapped Mordechai Vanunu and sentenced him to 18 years imprisonment. During this time, Israel's western allies have refused to speak publicly about his information and about his illegal abduction. Mordechai's evidence - which has never been contested by Israel or the U.S. -- directly contradicts Israel's long standing declaration that it "will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East." Yet, while the U.S. shows great concern over nuclear proliferation by countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, and North Korea, with a $500 million aid cut to Pakistan in 1991, it chooses to turn a blind eye to Israel's nuclear activities and to the whole Vanunu affair. Mordechai enabled essential information concerning the nuclear issue in the Middle East to become available to the international community and to Israel's own citizens. This action led to the first open debate in Israel over nuclear weapons. According to a prominent commentator in an Israeli newspaper, "Vanunu is the one who drew the intelligent public's attention to the need for a public discussion on Israel's nuclear policy." Serious questions are at last being asked about such fundamental issues as radiation, nuclear waste disposal, safety procedures in nuclear plants, and the environmental effects of nuclear weapons production. In 1987, the authoritative Israeli military analyst Ze'ev Schiff wrote: "The issue of developing nuclear arms in Israel has been considered for years an absolute taboo in our country." The entire March 1992 issue of the Israeli magazine >Politika< was devoted to the nuclear question; an article by Professor Uri Ben- Eliezer of Tel Aviv University criticised Mordechai's treatment by the state, arguing that the courts in Israel collaborated with the politics of nuclear ambiguity. He added that Vanunu, via the >Sunday Times<, dug out and raised the nuclear issue from the depths of the sixth basement of Dimona and exposed it to the eyes of all. Nevertheless, Mordechai's contribution to the nuclear debate inside and outside Israel has still not been fully acknowledged. While the world's media routinely use Mordechai's information when reporting on Israel's nuclear capacity, the source, and the human price being paid for providing this information, are rarely, if ever, mentioned. For instance, in the >Wall Street Journal< (30 May, 1991) noted: "Though Israel does not officially acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons, _it is known_ to have covertly developed an arsenal of nuclear arms and _is believed_ to be the only country in the region to possess them" (our emphasis). Mordechai has done a service for the world community, and it is the duty of the world community, and particularly of the press, to act for his release. We welcome the June 1992 article in the >London Times< by the well-known columnist Bernard Levin, who called for an end to Mordechai's severe punishment and for his release. "Whatever offence Vanunu may have committed under Israeli law," Levin wrote, "Israel's entire legal system is stained by that one criminal act of abduction" Mordechai needs us. Only our continuing pressure will ensure that he is not forgotten, and that he will finally receive justice and freedom. ### ISRAELI JUSTICE "I contributed my share by making public what the public ought to know... and they shut my mouth behind the prison walls." -Mordechai Vanunu In the case of Mordechai Vanunu, justice has so clearly not been done, that one is forced to ask whether the Israeli authorities ever intended that he should receive justice. In the first place, the very right of an Israeli court to try Vanunu is in doubt, since, rather than seeking to extradite him, the Israelis illegally kidnapped him from Italy. Although the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states (Article 9), "No one shall he subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention", including abduction of a person by agents of one state to another state, the Israeli court took the view that it could try anyone under its jurisdiction regardless of how they arrived there. Mordechai was charged with treason and aggravated espionage. Under Section 99 of the Israeli Penal Code, treason is defined as "an act calculated to assist (an enemy) in time of war... delivering information with the intention that it fall into the hands of the enemy"; the penalty is life imprisonment or death. Section 113 defines aggravated espionage as "deliver(ing) any secret information without being authorised to do so and with intent to impair the security of the state"; the penalty is life imprisonment. A sub- clause of this section provides for a penalty of seven years for the unauthorised collection, preparation, recording or holding of secret information; if this is done with intent to impair the security of the state, the penalty is increased to 15 years. The question of intent was thus central to Mordechai's defence. However, the court ruled that a person is assumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his actions; motive is immaterial regarding criminal responsibility. By majority ruling, the court found that his motivations were not ideological, though one of the three judges dissented from this finding. Mordechai's own statements regarding his intentions were not considered an acceptable defence. This, however, did not prevent the prosecution from introducing references to Mordechai's conversion to Christianity as a factor motivating his acts. Indeed, >Sunday Times< journalist Peter Hounam, who appeared as a defence witness, commented later "It is clear that, as far as Vanunu's accusers are concerned, the trial is not only about whether his decision to reveal the secrets of Israel's atom bomb amounted to treason and espionage, it is also about whether his decision to become a Christian was at the root of his alleged treachery". It was also alleged that Mordechai acted from financial motives, that he sold the story to the >Sunday Times<. However, Peter Hounam testified that "We did not pay him money, but only covered his expenses... Money did not motivate him", and the prosecution conceded that there was "no direct proof" that Mordechai had been paid. >Sunday Times< journalist Wendy Robbins later wrote "Mordechai never asked for nor received a single penny for his information... he blurted out the whole tale without first setting out any financial preconditions. Mordechai got nothing out of the whole episode. He never `sold' Israel's secrets -- he told them." The trial was held in total secrecy. Mordechai was taken to and from the court in handcuffs and leg-irons, in a van with darkened windows. He wore a crash helmet, and the van sounded a siren, in order to prevent him from communicating with journalists or sympathisers. Even during the court hearings, two Israeli security agents sat next to him in order to put their hands over his mouth if he revealed any secret information. The public, the press and all observers (including a delegate from Amnesty International) were excluded from the hearings, neither the transcript of the trial nor Mordechai's own has been published, and even the court's judgement was censored before publication. The defence cited Article 94 of the Penal Code which stated that an alleged security offence "shall not be regarded as an offence if it has been, or appears to have been, done in good faith with intent to bring about, by lawful means, a change in the structure of the state or the activities of any of its authorities..." The court rejected this argument, and convicted Mordechai of all the charges, sentencing him to 18 years imprisonment. Mordechai appealed against both verdict and sentence. This appeal, which was also conducted behind closed doors, was rejected, as was Mordechai's final appeal for a rehearing of the case. The courts ruled that it was irrelevant whether the information given by Mordechai was true; that the prosecution did not have to prove that actual harm had been caused to Israel's security; and that it was a more serious offence to give secret information to a newspaper than to an enemy. In his judgement, Deputy Supreme Court President Menachem Elon stated that "Freedom is not license... and civil rights are not a recipe for national suicide." Following the appeal verdict, defence lawyer Avigdor Feldman stated that "the Supreme Court has trivialised the term `treason' in this case". Mordechai Kremnitzer, dean of the School of law at Jerusalem University, stated that the charge of treason was inappropriate: "One needs to distinguish between information given to the media and the normal type of espionage testimony the treason charge comes close to stopping freedom of expression and the public's right to know". Mordechai himself, in a message from his prison cell, told supporters: "Keep thinking about me. I feel very good. I'm strong enough to wait until my release... I hope one day justice will be done... " ### Produced by: The Campaign To Free Vanunu and For a Nuclear Free Middle East, 6 Endsleigh St, London WC1H ODX, England. Mordechai Vanunu's address is: Ashkelon Prison, Ashkelon, Israel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- None of this material is copyright. Feel free to reprint and disseminate all, or any of this newsletter as widely as possible.