18 Apr 17 | Awards, Awards Update, News and features, Youth Board
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Mordechai Vanunu
Mordechai Vanunu was granted Index on Censorship’s Special Award in 2004 for his work as a whistleblower on Israel’s nuclear programme. While working as a nuclear technician for the Israeli government in the 1980s he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for exposing their possession of nuclear weapons to the Sunday Times.
In April 2004 he was released and has since been fighting for his right to leave Israel – the foundational condition of Vanunu’s release from prison was a prohibition on leaving the country. In addition, he is prohibited from contacting embassies or having any interaction with foreigners that has not been pre-approved by Israeli officials. Shortly after his release he unsuccessfully applied for asylum in Norway, Ireland and Sweden. He has been rejected asylum status numerous times since it is not legally possible to apply for asylum in a country without physically being there. Essentially, so long as the prohibition on leaving Israel remains, he cannot meaningfully seek asylum.
Israel’s High Court has had a central role in determining Vanunu’s fate since 2004. In 2008 24 influential Norwegian lawyers signed the “Norwegian Lawyer’s Petition for Vanunu”. In September of the same year the eighth petition calling for Vanunu’s conditions to be lifted was rejected by the High Court. And less than 2 months ago Vanunu was convicted of violating the terms of his release by meeting with two US citizens in 2013 without permission from the authorities. He is to appear in court for sentencing this month.
This is only the latest struggle in the past 30 years of Vanunu’s life, after he first leaked photos of Isreali nuclear production plants to the Sunday Times in 1986. Vanunu’s struggle for freedom has not gone unnoticed by the world. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 1987. In 2010 the International League for Human Rights sent open letters to Benjamin Netanyahu seeking Vanunu’s free release. In 2015 Vanunu said that he had no desire nor even any means of spilling more secrets on Israel’s nuclear programme. He stated that he simply wants to join his wife, theology professor Kristin Joachimsen, in Norway. In the same year the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament wrote to the Guardian calling for a vigil to be held outside of the Israeli Embassy in London in honour of Vanunu’s birthday.
However, there may be hope. In October 2015 Vanunu appealed the terms of his release to the Israeli Supreme Court, and in January this year he shared on Facebook that the Supreme Court would rule on his appeal in the coming month. On March 3, 2017, Vanunu wrote: “We are now waiting for the Supreme Court decision, it could be anytime soon. And it could be good or nothing, I am used to all this for 31 years, 1986-2017. Freedom must come.”
Fionnuala McRedmond is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. She graduated last June from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Classics. She is now studying for a MSc in Political Theory at the London School of Economics.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1492506170040-ab008603-fefe-8″ taxonomies=”2329, 180″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
16 Oct 14 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns, Statements
The Azerbaijani authorities should immediately lift the travel ban imposed on Khadija Ismayilova and cease all legal proceedings against her. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest on criminal defamation charges seems imminent and would confirm the authorities’ intent to silence all critical voices in the country.
As part of the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA), APC, ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, the European Federation of Journalists, Freedom House, Freedom Now, the Human Rights House Foundation, International Media Support, the Media Diversity Institute, PEN International and Reporters without Borders, call on the international community, and in particular Council of Europe member states to immediately and publicly condemn the ongoing harassment and politically motivated criminal charges against Khadija Ismayilova. With the next court hearing taking place on Friday 17 October, at 11.30 in Binagadi district court in Baku, Council of Europe member states should publicly request to attend and send a representative to monitor the hearing.
IPGA members believe that Khadija Ismayilova’s attendance at the most recent session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg triggered the latest string of harassment, including a five hour search upon arrival at the airport following her trip, the criminal defamation charges and the imposition of a travel ban.
“Those who raise concern about the existence of political prisoners in Azerbaijan at the Council of Europe are themselves specifically targeted by the authorities, and such reprisals are incompatible with international human rights standards the Azerbaijani authorities claim to adhere to,” said David Diaz-Jogeix, Director of Programmes of ARTICLE 19.
“The ongoing harassment of one of Azerbaijan’s most outspoken critics follows an unprecedented wave of arrests of human rights defenders, civic activists and journalists in Azerbaijan who have dared to publicly criticise the authorities. Those who have spoken about the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan at PACE have been particularly targeted.” said Florian Irminger, Head of Advocacy and Geneva Office at the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF).
“We are deeply concerned by the increasing persecution of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan and, in particular, continued attempts to stifle free expression through intimidation and harassment of journalists like Khadija Ismayilova and Arzu Geybulla. The international community – and especially the Council of Europe of which Azerbaijan is part – needs to speak out loudly and firmly against the crackdown in Azerbaijan,” stated Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship.
“Khadija Ismayilova is one of the most recognized investigation journalists in Azerbaijan. Harassing her is sending a clear signal of intimidation to the entire media profession,” Reporters Without Borders deputy programme director Virginie Dangles said.
These six human rights defenders, pictured above from left to right here are:
Zohrab Ismayil: forced to leave Azerbaijan, his NGO, Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, paralysed
Emin Huseynov: unable to work in Azerbaijan, due to legal action against his NGO, Institute for Reporters Freedom of Safety, subject to travel ban
Gulnara Akhundova: forced to leave Azerbaijan, no longer able to represent her NGO, International Media Support from within the country
Rasul Jafarov: in pre-trial detention on politically motivated charges
Intigam Aliyev: in pre-trial detention on politically motivated charges, unable to take his cases at the European Court for Human Rights forward
Rashid Hajili: forced to stop working as human rights defender, his NGO, Media Rights Institute seized operating
The IPGA calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to cease its harassment of Khadija Ismayilova and stop the silencing of its critics through imprisonment and politically motivated legal actions. Member states of the Council of Europe, the main human rights institution in Europe, need to speak up and hold Azerbaijan to account for failing to implement its human rights obligations. With Azerbaijan as chair of its Committee of Ministers until 14 November, the integrity and accountability of the institution is at stake.
For further information about Khadija Ismayilova, also see the recent IPGA report Azerbaijan – when the truth becomes a lie.
