Vanunu’s Release Brings Israeli Nukes Under Spot

Lincoln · 21 april 2004, 14:42

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, April 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Insisting he still has more secrets to tell, the Israeli government justified Tuesday, April 20, the unprecedented restrictions that will be placed on Mordechai Vanunu, its nuclear whistleblower, who will be released Wednesday, April 21, after 18 years in prison.

"Vanunu has revealed state secrets about the Dimona nuclear plant. He still possesses state secrets including some which he has not revealed," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The revelations of these state secrets could seriously damage the security of the state," the statement added.

The Ministry confirmed that under a set of restrictions agreed with the Interior Ministry, Vanunu would not be allowed to leave the country, approach any port or airport or make contact with foreigners without prior authorization after his release.

The statement said Vanunu, who is currently in custody at Shikma prison in the southern city of Ashkelon, had "announced his intention to reveal these secrets".

The Israeli government does not comment on the nuclear capability Vanunu helped to develop and later renounced.

But international experts agree that Israel possesses the world's sixth largest nuclear arsenal, with some 200 warheads, compared with Britain's 185, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Vanunu, however, has denied that he remains any threat to national security and said he had no more nuclear secrets to reveal.

"First of all, I've been on the inside for 20 years - everything has changed already," he told interrogators from Israel's security services in footage which was broadcast on Israeli television late Monday, April 19.

"Second, what I went through is a process the entire world knows about ... It's clear that everything has been published. Science has progressed.

"Technology has taken giant steps forward, so what I saw appears to me to be very old. I don't think the Americans are interested, or the Europeans, " Vanunu said.

Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz ruled the travel ban was essential to prevent him from "damaging state security", his ministry said in a statement Monday.

But Poraz dropped proposals to completely bar Vanunu from speaking to foreigners, including his American-born adoptive parents, or approaching any foreign embassy.

File photo of Israel’s Dimona nuclear power plant (AFP)

Vanunu's lawyers from the Association for Human Rights in Israel (ACRI) had appealed over the weekend to the Israeli government to abandon the restrictions in their entirety.

Senior ACRI attorney Oded Feller said in the appeal to Poraz and the head of the Home Front Command, Major General Yaior Naveh, "the prohibitions and restrictions ... are unreasonable, and constitute a severe and unjustified infringement of the freedom of the released prisoner."

"They will also prevent him from living a normal life in even the most basic sense when he completes, on Wednesday, the full term of his harsh and lengthy prison sentence," said Feller.

According to British daily the Independent, more than 100 well wishers, including Bruce Kent, the vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, actress Susannah York, and Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Colin Breed, will be on hand to greet Vanunu when he leaves jail Wednesday.

In a separately-related development, Amnesty International urged the Israeli authorities not to impose any restrictions or conditions on Vanunu.

"Vanunu should be allowed to exercise his rights to freedom of movement, association and expression in Israel and should be allowed to leave the country if he wishes, "said Amnesty International.

"His release is long overdue and Israel must not continue to violate his fundamental human rights once he is released from prison. "

Amnesty International said Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Israel has ratified and is obliged to uphold, stipulates that: "everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence" and that "everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own".

"The rights to freedom of expression and association are guaranteed by Articles 19 and 21 of the same Covenant, "said the international watchdog.

Neither Spy, Nor Traitor

Speaking to agents from Israel's internal security service, Vanunu, 49, said: "I was neither a spy nor a traitor."

The meeting was recorded and then broadcast on prime-time Israeli television, prompting his family to accuse the Israeli authorities of trying to smear him on the eve of his release.

His brother Meir said it was "scandalous" that the security services had allowed the tape of the interrogation to be broadcast, reported the Telegraph.

The remarks made by Vanunu in his interview appeared to breach every one of Israel's taboos, the paper added.

"There shouldn't be a Jewish state. There should be a Palestinian state," he told interrogators.

Vanunu added that the world "perceived me as a hero" while only Israelis failed to appreciate his actions.

"I acted in a way that was honest for myself and also for the world."

As for the future of the Dimona plant, Vanunu called on the world to treat it in the same way as Iraq's nuclear weapons program.

"I want them to destroy the reactor. More than that, just like they destroyed the Iraqi reactor, I want them to destroy the Israeli reactor."

Vanunu, who worked as a technician at Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility from 1976 to 1985, was sent to jail 18 years ago for exposing secrets relating to Israel’s nuclear capabilities.

In an interview with the Sunday Times in 1986, he revealed evidence that Israel possessed and produced nuclear weapons.

Israel, which to date has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has never confirmed or denied the information.

Vanunu maintained that he acted out of conscience to expose Israel’s policy of building nuclear weapons with no debate or authorization from its own citizens.

On September 30, 1986, Vanunu was kidnapped in Rome by agents of Mossad, Israel’s secret services.

He was drugged and secretly shipped to Israel.

After a secret trial, he was sentenced to 18 years on charges of treason and espionage.

His repeated requests for early parole were consistently rejected by the Israeli authorities.

"gelukkig zijn er nog mensen die verstandig zijn een zich niet laten misleiden door oorlog zuchtige moordmachines!!!!!"

maddox · 21 april 2004, 14:59

Leuk, een geniale randdebiel die de kennis in verband met kernwapens geeft aan achterlijke idioten die mensen die "hun" visie niet volgen gewoon ter dood veroordelen.Da's zoals een aap een geladen vuurwapen met een kogel in de kamer en ontgrendelde veiligheid in de hand geven.

Weerom, de Israëlische autoriteiten zijn weer veel te vriendelijk voor hun eigen goed.Dat die mens nu terug zichtbaar levend in het nieuws komt.

Ondertussen heeft Israël al hoeveel jaar kernwapens?En toch zijn die niet gebruikt....

Die uitspraak om de Israëlische reactor te vernielen zoals de Iraanse reactor vernield is....
Echt een snuggere jongen die Vanunu. Het verschil is dat de islamitische reactor in aanbouw was, zonder enig spoortje van radiactiviteit erin, terwijl de Dimona reactor hoeveel jaar in gebruik is.
Dee methode van vernietiging, een vlucht aanvalsbommenwerpers.
Resultaat van dezelfde actie is te vergelijken als een superTjernobil in vergelijking met een instortend flatgebouw.

A · 22 april 2004, 13:23

Citaat:

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door maddox

Leuk, een geniale randdebiel die de kennis in verband met kernwapens geeft aan achterlijke idioten die mensen die "hun" visie niet volgen gewoon ter dood veroordelen.Da's zoals een aap een geladen vuurwapen met een kogel in de kamer en ontgrendelde veiligheid in de hand geven.

Weerom, de Israëlische autoriteiten zijn weer veel te vriendelijk voor hun eigen goed.Dat die mens nu terug zichtbaar levend in het nieuws komt.

Ondertussen heeft Israël al hoeveel jaar kernwapens?En toch zijn die niet gebruikt....

So what ? Israel schreeuwt moord en brand dat Saddam nukes zou hebben (gehad) maar ondertussen weigeren ze wel zelf inspecties toe te laten en houden ze er zelf .

btw ; Israel heeft het non-proliferatiepact niet ondertekend . Ook israel kan dus vrij zijn kennis en bommen aan "achterlijke idioten die mensen die "hun" visie niet volgen gewoon ter dood veroordelen" geven .

Turkse Nederlander · 22 april 2004, 14:05

Citaat:

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door maddox

Weerom, de Israëlische autoriteiten zijn weer veel te vriendelijk voor hun eigen goed.Dat die mens nu terug zichtbaar levend in het nieuws komt.

Israel veel te aardig?

Mordechai Vanunu heeft het wereldrecord eenzame opsluiting in handen. Hij heeft 12 jaar lang in een isoleercel gezeten. Ik kan me dat niet eens voorstellen.

Flippend Rund · 22 april 2004, 14:06

ik vind het nogal bizar dat ze die man hebben opgesloten. Het ganse punt van nucleaire afschrikking is juist dat je vijand weet dat je kernwapens hebt.

lyot · 22 april 2004, 14:33

ik vind het ongeloofelijk dat zo iemand 12 jaar in eenzame opsluiting wordt gestopt.. Het heeft niets met democratie te maken in mijn ogen ,maar met essentiële mensenrechten.De manier waarop een staat haar gevangenen behandelt zegt in mijn ogen veel over de mate van 'ontwikkeling' van een land, hoewel ik dat woord zelf niet eens graag gebruik.. Wat er ook van zij, ik erken dat een land de plicht heeft om haar veiligheidsbelangen te waarborgen, en dat er aldus een rem moet staan op het recht aan vrije MENINGSUITING.. zowaar een brandend actueel thema, hier in ons kleine Vlaanderen.. Maar 12 jaar solitary confinement, neen, dat gaat me te ver.

Malcolm X · 22 april 2004, 15:26

Het proces van Morchedaï Vanunu vond plaats achter gesloten deuren ... in twijfelachtige omstandigheden en zonder dat zijn advocaten toegang kregen tot alle bewijsstukken van de openbare aanklager. Dat zegt genoeg ...

Voor het overige is het duidelijk dat de VS een huichelachtig en hypocriet spelletje spelen.

21 april 2004, 14:42	#1
Lincoln Perm. Vertegenwoordiger VN Geregistreerd: 22 februari 2004 Locatie: Ubi bene ibi patria()Qua Patet Orbis Berichten: 10.540	OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, April 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Insisting he still has more secrets to tell, the Israeli government justified Tuesday, April 20, the unprecedented restrictions that will be placed on Mordechai Vanunu, its nuclear whistleblower, who will be released Wednesday, April 21, after 18 years in prison. "Vanunu has revealed state secrets about the Dimona nuclear plant. He still possesses state secrets including some which he has not revealed," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). "The revelations of these state secrets could seriously damage the security of the state," the statement added. The Ministry confirmed that under a set of restrictions agreed with the Interior Ministry, Vanunu would not be allowed to leave the country, approach any port or airport or make contact with foreigners without prior authorization after his release. The statement said Vanunu, who is currently in custody at Shikma prison in the southern city of Ashkelon, had "announced his intention to reveal these secrets". The Israeli government does not comment on the nuclear capability Vanunu helped to develop and later renounced. But international experts agree that Israel possesses the world's sixth largest nuclear arsenal, with some 200 warheads, compared with Britain's 185, according to the Daily Telegraph. Vanunu, however, has denied that he remains any threat to national security and said he had no more nuclear secrets to reveal. "First of all, I've been on the inside for 20 years - everything has changed already," he told interrogators from Israel's security services in footage which was broadcast on Israeli television late Monday, April 19. "Second, what I went through is a process the entire world knows about ... It's clear that everything has been published. Science has progressed. "Technology has taken giant steps forward, so what I saw appears to me to be very old. I don't think the Americans are interested, or the Europeans, " Vanunu said. Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz ruled the travel ban was essential to prevent him from "damaging state security", his ministry said in a statement Monday. But Poraz dropped proposals to completely bar Vanunu from speaking to foreigners, including his American-born adoptive parents, or approaching any foreign embassy. File photo of Israel’s Dimona nuclear power plant (AFP) Vanunu's lawyers from the Association for Human Rights in Israel (ACRI) had appealed over the weekend to the Israeli government to abandon the restrictions in their entirety. Senior ACRI attorney Oded Feller said in the appeal to Poraz and the head of the Home Front Command, Major General Yaior Naveh, "the prohibitions and restrictions ... are unreasonable, and constitute a severe and unjustified infringement of the freedom of the released prisoner." "They will also prevent him from living a normal life in even the most basic sense when he completes, on Wednesday, the full term of his harsh and lengthy prison sentence," said Feller. According to British daily the Independent, more than 100 well wishers, including Bruce Kent, the vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, actress Susannah York, and Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Colin Breed, will be on hand to greet Vanunu when he leaves jail Wednesday. In a separately-related development, Amnesty International urged the Israeli authorities not to impose any restrictions or conditions on Vanunu. "Vanunu should be allowed to exercise his rights to freedom of movement, association and expression in Israel and should be allowed to leave the country if he wishes, "said Amnesty International. "His release is long overdue and Israel must not continue to violate his fundamental human rights once he is released from prison. " Amnesty International said Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Israel has ratified and is obliged to uphold, stipulates that: "everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence" and that "everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own". "The rights to freedom of expression and association are guaranteed by Articles 19 and 21 of the same Covenant, "said the international watchdog. Neither Spy, Nor Traitor Speaking to agents from Israel's internal security service, Vanunu, 49, said: "I was neither a spy nor a traitor." The meeting was recorded and then broadcast on prime-time Israeli television, prompting his family to accuse the Israeli authorities of trying to smear him on the eve of his release. His brother Meir said it was "scandalous" that the security services had allowed the tape of the interrogation to be broadcast, reported the Telegraph. The remarks made by Vanunu in his interview appeared to breach every one of Israel's taboos, the paper added. "There shouldn't be a Jewish state. There should be a Palestinian state," he told interrogators. Vanunu added that the world "perceived me as a hero" while only Israelis failed to appreciate his actions. "I acted in a way that was honest for myself and also for the world." As for the future of the Dimona plant, Vanunu called on the world to treat it in the same way as Iraq's nuclear weapons program. "I want them to destroy the reactor. More than that, just like they destroyed the Iraqi reactor, I want them to destroy the Israeli reactor." Vanunu, who worked as a technician at Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility from 1976 to 1985, was sent to jail 18 years ago for exposing secrets relating to Israel’s nuclear capabilities. In an interview with the Sunday Times in 1986, he revealed evidence that Israel possessed and produced nuclear weapons. Israel, which to date has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has never confirmed or denied the information. Vanunu maintained that he acted out of conscience to expose Israel’s policy of building nuclear weapons with no debate or authorization from its own citizens. On September 30, 1986, Vanunu was kidnapped in Rome by agents of Mossad, Israel’s secret services. He was drugged and secretly shipped to Israel. After a secret trial, he was sentenced to 18 years on charges of treason and espionage. His repeated requests for early parole were consistently rejected by the Israeli authorities. "gelukkig zijn er nog mensen die verstandig zijn een zich niet laten misleiden door oorlog zuchtige moordmachines!!!!!" __________________ "Moslim freedom, Now !!!" "Free people around the ka3ba for a free faith around the world !"

21 april 2004, 14:59	#2
maddox Secretaris-Generaal VN Geregistreerd: 25 september 2002 Locatie: vilvoorde Berichten: 71.280	Leuk, een geniale randdebiel die de kennis in verband met kernwapens geeft aan achterlijke idioten die mensen die "hun" visie niet volgen gewoon ter dood veroordelen.Da's zoals een aap een geladen vuurwapen met een kogel in de kamer en ontgrendelde veiligheid in de hand geven. Weerom, de Israëlische autoriteiten zijn weer veel te vriendelijk voor hun eigen goed.Dat die mens nu terug zichtbaar levend in het nieuws komt. Ondertussen heeft Israël al hoeveel jaar kernwapens?En toch zijn die niet gebruikt.... Die uitspraak om de Israëlische reactor te vernielen zoals de Iraanse reactor vernield is.... Echt een snuggere jongen die Vanunu. Het verschil is dat de islamitische reactor in aanbouw was, zonder enig spoortje van radiactiviteit erin, terwijl de Dimona reactor hoeveel jaar in gebruik is. Dee methode van vernietiging, een vlucht aanvalsbommenwerpers. Resultaat van dezelfde actie is te vergelijken als een superTjernobil in vergelijking met een instortend flatgebouw. __________________ De meeste mensen gaan naar het werk om geld te krijgen, niet om het te verdienen.

22 april 2004, 14:33	#6
lyot Parlementsvoorzitter Geregistreerd: 3 september 2003 Berichten: 2.493	ik vind het ongeloofelijk dat zo iemand 12 jaar in eenzame opsluiting wordt gestopt.. Het heeft niets met democratie te maken in mijn ogen ,maar met essentiële mensenrechten.De manier waarop een staat haar gevangenen behandelt zegt in mijn ogen veel over de mate van 'ontwikkeling' van een land, hoewel ik dat woord zelf niet eens graag gebruik.. Wat er ook van zij, ik erken dat een land de plicht heeft om haar veiligheidsbelangen te waarborgen, en dat er aldus een rem moet staan op het recht aan vrije MENINGSUITING.. zowaar een brandend actueel thema, hier in ons kleine Vlaanderen.. Maar 12 jaar solitary confinement, neen, dat gaat me te ver. __________________ It's deep how you can be so shallow

22 april 2004, 14:06	#5
Flippend Rund Eur. Commissievoorzitter Geregistreerd: 22 februari 2004 Locatie: where the birds sing a pretty song Berichten: 8.389	ik vind het nogal bizar dat ze die man hebben opgesloten. Het ganse punt van nucleaire afschrikking is juist dat je vijand weet dat je kernwapens hebt.

22 april 2004, 15:26	#7
Malcolm X Burger Geregistreerd: 5 april 2004 Locatie: Antwerpen Berichten: 136	Het proces van Morchedaï Vanunu vond plaats achter gesloten deuren ... in twijfelachtige omstandigheden en zonder dat zijn advocaten toegang kregen tot alle bewijsstukken van de openbare aanklager. Dat zegt genoeg ... Voor het overige is het duidelijk dat de VS een huichelachtig en hypocriet spelletje spelen.