The weapons inspector who found nuclear weapons

Fredrik S. Heffermehl Inter Press Service Oslo

The recent, wholesale failure of the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq should remind us of an expert who did find such weapons in the Middle East. Mordechai Vanunu discovered and reported a clandestine nuclear weapons factory, but instead of official recognition he received a sentence of 18 years in prison, the first eleven in solitary confinement. On Tuesday Sept. 30, 2003, he will have served 17 years.

Vanunu's misfortune was that he found the weapons in the wrong country -- his own, namely Israel. While his country expected him to keep it as a secret, Vanunu had the opposite impulse. He thought that a little group within the cabinet should not be entitled, in the name of national security, to begin production of devices that would jeopardize the survival of the nation, the region, and the world at risk. What is democracy worth, Vanunu thought, if it is alright to hide such vital information from the public, excluding the most dangerous and consequential decisions from public discussion?

"If I do not tell the truth, who will?" Vanunu wrote to his brother before he blew the whistle on Israel's secret weapons by delivering to the Sunday Times a set of photos from the inside of Dimona, Israel's bomb factory, where he had worked as a subordinate technician. Even before the story was published, Mossad, the Israeli Secret Police, had set a honey trap and kidnapped him from London via Rome, back to Israel, where he was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Neither Britain nor Italy have ever protested this gross violation of their territorial sovereignty.

Vanunu was punished for Israel's illegal actions.

The elimination of all nuclear weapons has always been a central political ambition for the United Nations. In 1996 the World Court of Justice stated that the use of nuclear weapons would violate the laws of war and that states have a legally- binding obligation to abolish them.

The nuclear weapons states have frequently confirmed their obligations under the 1968 treaty on the non-proliferation and elimination of nuclear weapons but consistently failed to act accordingly. In March this year the U.S. pointed to Iraq's alleged stocks of weapons as a central justification for going to war while it pursued intensive research for the development of new nukes in a nuclear arms race with itself.

It is hard to see how Vanunu's revelation could harm Israel. The program was not a military secret in 1986 when he was arrested. And presumably the weapons were not intended for surprise attack. Moreover, if they were to function as a deterrent, the neighbors would have to know. Most likely, the main reason why both Israel and the U.S. pretend that there are no nuclear weapons is a law that prevents the U.S. government from supporting nations that violate the non-proliferation regime.

How could the Israeli court convict Vanunu of being a spy and a traitor? He did not engage in subversive activities with an enemy but went to the Israeli public, via the international press. His goal was to initiate an open, public, and democratic discussion, says Felice Cohen-Joppa, a leader of the U.S. Campaign to free Vanunu. Real spies normally do not spend much time in jail, but Vanunu never benefited from a swap with a counterpart of an enemy country. It was right of Vanunu to talk when the security of the Israelis was jeopardized by illegal actions of their own government, says Cohen-Joppa.

There has been international outrage over the almost 12 years of Vanunu's isolation in prison. Already in 1991 Amnesty International pointed out that Vanunu had suffered excessive cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, in clear violation of the international ban on torture, and that his release was long overdue. Hopes that he, in keeping with a common practice in Israel and other countries, would be released on parole after 12 years of good behavior were also disappointed.

Vanunu has probably paid a higher price than anyone else in the worldwide struggle against nuclear weapons. But he has never doubted that he did the right thing, say the only people who have been permitted to visit him in prison. The circle of visitors is strictly limited to his lawyer and close family, including an American couple, Nick and Mary Eoloff, who adopted Vanunu as their son.

But thousands of people visit his cell every day in their thoughts and through a sizable stream of letters sent to Ashqelon prison, Ashqelon, Israel. Campaigns all over the world have worked for his release. He has received numerous prizes, including the Right Livelihood Award, is a Vice President of the International Peace Bureau in Geneva, and became honorary doctor of Tromsoe University in Norway two years back. On Sept. 30, the 17th anniversary of his incarceration, there will be demonstrations in about 20 cities around the world calling for his release.

Unbelievably, after so many years in solitary confinement, Vanunu is still of sound mind. After 6200 days under lock and key, now "only" 210 days remain before the date Israel has set for his release, April 22, 2004. Judging from his frequent letters to supporters round the world and reports from his adoptive parents, Vanunu is in good spirits and looking forward with great excitement to start a new life abroad.

The writers, lawyer, is President of the Norwegian Peace Alliance Steering Committee, and member of the International Peace Bureau.