(459.4560) WISE-Amsterdam- A few days before the publication on October 6, 1996, he was lured to Rome by an female agent of the Israeli secret service, then kidnapped, drugged, and secretly carried away to Israel on an Israeli merchant ship. After a secret trial he was convicted of "aggravated espionage" on March 24, 1988 and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Amnesty International has described his imprisonment conditions as constituting "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" and stated that "such a treatment is prohibited by international human righs law, regardless of the reasons for its imposition."
Vanunu is kept in total isolation, which has caused him grave psychological and physical harm. Only the chief warden and one of the guards are allowed to speak to him. He is permitted absolutely no physical, visual or verbal contact besides the visits by his direct family. The 3 by 2 meters cell has no windows; until his hunger strike in 1995, the only furniture was a bed, a television set, a radio, a table, and a chair, there was no cupboard or shelves. There were some concessions since that: the right to have his own computer, the allowance of two phone calls per week to legal advisers and the removal of the thick metal grill that had always seperated him from his visitors. Family visits have been extended to half an hour per week, his outdoor time has been extended to two hours a day, now in two sessions.
On one occasion three years ago a mistake by prison guards suddenly gave Vanunu access to his fellow inmates, one of them reported: "After Vanunu had taken his exercise, we would go to the same yard. But this time, our guards apparently thought Vanunu was back in his cell and let us go out - and there he was, walking towards us. He was smiling and he put his finger to his lips and said, 'Please say nothing - just let me walk with you. I want to walk with other people. I am lonely.' So we walked with him, maybe for 10 minutes, and he thanked us and smiled - he always smiled. Then the Israelis discovered what they had done and sounded alarm and many guards came with riot gear and sticks and took him away." The Campaign to Free Vanunu has been active over the years. In London there has been a weekly vigil in front of the Israeli Embassy for four years now. During this time many people were informed and a lot of signatures under the petitions were collected. Four Vanunu Benefits were organised already, the last on September 28, 1996, a newsletter is published, too. Send your protest letters to:
Ezer Weizmann, The President of Israel
3 Hanassi St.
Jerusalem
Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu, The Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister's Office HaKiriya
Jerusalem
Israel
Fax: +972-2-664 838
If you want to join the campaign, please contact the Campaign to Free Vanunu.
If you want to write Mordechai Vananu, this is his adress:
M. Vanunu
Ashkelon Prison
PO Box 17
Ashkelon 78100
Israel
Source: Campaign to Free Vanunu & Third World Network
Contact: 89 Borough Rion St., London BE1 NL, UK
Tel/Fax: +44-171-3789324