The detention of the Refuzniks is arbitrary says UN Group

[Resistance]

Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

ISRAEL: The detention of the Refuzniks is arbitrary says the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

Paris, Geneva- 19 January 2004 -The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint program of FIDH and OMCT) welcomes the decision of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning the cases of Matan Kaminer, Adam Maor, Noam Bahat and Jonathan Ben Artzi submitted by the Observatory last May 2003.

The U.N. Working Group stated, in its final Opinion n° 24/2003 (Israel) that although at present time the rejection by a state of the right to conscientious objection cannot be considered incompatible with international law, the repeated penalties imposed on Matan Kaminer, Adam Maor, Noam Bahat and Jonathan Ben Artzi were arbitrary.

The Observatory calls on Israeli authorities to adjust to the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and to take the necessary measures to remedy the situation of the conscientious objectors currently arbitrarily detained.