Mordechai Vanunu

Mordechai Vanunu (Bahasa Ibrani: מרדכי ואנונו‎), dilahirkan di Marrakesh, Maghribi pada 13 Oktober 1954 merupakan bekas juruteknik nuklear yang mendedahkan secara terperinci program senjata nuklear Israel kepada sidang British pada 1986. Dia telah berikutnya diculik oleh ejen Israel dan diseludup ke Israel, di mana dia telah teruji dan disabitkan atas pengkhianatan. 
Mordechai Vanunu menghabiskan 18 tahun dalam penjara, termasuk lebih dari 11 tahun di pengurungan sendirian. Vanunu telah dibebaskan dari penjara pada 2004, disubjekkan kepada berbagai barisan batasan pada pengucapan dan pergerakan beliau. Sejak kemudian dia telah secara ringkas ditangkap beberapa kali kerana melanggar pembatasan ini, termasuk memberi beberapa temubual kepada wartawan luar dan mencuba meninggalkan Israel.
Pada 2007 Vanunu telah dijatuhkan hukuman enam bulan di penjara kerana melanggar tempoh parol beliau. Hukuman ini telah dianggap luarbiasa walaupun oleh pendakwa yang menjangkakan hukuman yang digantungkan. Sebagai tindak balas, Amnesty International menerbitkan sidang pembebasan pada 2 Julai, 2007, menyatakan bahawa "Organisasi ini menganggap Modechai Vanunu menjadi banduan hati nurani dan mengarahkan untuk pembebasan beliau secara segera dan tidak bersyarat." Vanunu telah dihuraikan oleh kebanyakan sebagai peniup wisel tetapi oleh yang lain, terutamanya orang Israel, sebagai pengkhianat.

Kehidupan awal dan pendidikan

Vanunu dilahirkan di Marrakesh, Maghribi kepada keluarga Yahudi; ayah beliau merupakan rabai. Pada 1963, pada usia sembilan, beliau emigrat dibawah Hukum Mengembali dengan ibubapa beliau dan 4 pertama dari 11 abang dan kakak ke Israel. Pada 1973, beliau mendaftar untuk program matematik dan fizik di Universiti Tel Aviv. Bagaimanapun memanjangkan tugas simpanan pada Perang Yom Kippur 1973 dan kekurangan dana menjadikan beliau untuk memutuskan pelajaran beliau. Vanunu melengkapkan tiga tahun beliau dalam khidmat tentera sebagai sapper dalam IDF Kor Kombat Kejuruteraan, dengan rank sarjan Pertama. Selepas melengkapkan khidmat beliau dan memulakan pekerjaan di Pusat Penyelidikan Nuklear Negev. Vanunu menjadi pelajar sambilan geografi dan falsafah di Universiti Ben-Gurion dari Negev, di mana beliau menjadi kritikal dari kebanyakan polisi kerajaan Israel, membentuk sebuah kumpulan yang dipanggil "Kampus" dengan empat pelajar Yahudi lain dan lima pelajar Arab. Vanunu juga digolong dengan sebuah kumpulan yang dipanggil "Gerakan untuk Kemaraan Keamanan."
Vanunu menerima siswazah dari Universiti Beersheba pada 1985 dengan BA dalam Falsafah dan Geografi.

Pusat Penyelidikan Nuklear Negev

Antara 1976 dan 1985, Vanunu telah digajikan sebagai juruteknik loji nuklear dan pengurus sambilan di Pusat Penyelidikan Nuklear Negev, sebuah fasiliti Israel yang digunakan untuk membangunkan dan mengeluarkan senjata nuklear, terletak di Gurun Negev selatan Dimona. Kebanyakan agensi risikan sedunia menganggarkan bahawa Israel membangunkan senjata nuklear seawal 1960an, tetapi negara tersebut telah dengan sengaja mengekalkan "Polisi kesengajaan kekaburan", tidak berpengetahuan mahupun menafikan ia memiliki senjata tersebut. Ia semasa penggajian beliau bahawa terdapat salah satu dari kumpulan sayap-kiri iaitu keahlian Vanunu yang diadakan memprotes terhadap reaktor nuklear Iraq Osiraq, iaitu telah dipercayai menjadi sebahagian dari program pembangunan senjata nuklear Iraq. Jerusalem Post menyatakan bahawa Vanunu mengambil aktif sebahagian dari protes ini, didebatkan bahawa ini menunjukkan bahawa beliau dimotivasikan oleh perasaan benci kepada Israel pada perbuatan kemudian beliau.
Ia dipercayai bahawa di Dimona, Vanunu menjadi bertambah bermasalah mengenai program senjata nuklear Israel yang meluas dipecayai iaitu yang beliau bekerja. Apabila beliau telah diletak keluar dari Dimona pada 1985, Vanunu meninggalkan Israel. beliau tiba di nepal dan dianggap sebagai pemelukan ke agama Buddha, kemudian mengembara ke Burma dan Thailand. Pada 1986, beliau mengembara ke Sydney, Australia. Sementara di sana, Vanunu tinggal dalam hostel di Kings Cross dan bekerja dengan kerja aneh, pertama sebagai pembasuh pinggan mangkuk hotel dan kemudian sebagai pemandu teksi.
Vanunu mula menghadiri gereja tempatan, St. John's, Darlinghurst. Sana beliau berjumpa dengan Reverend John McKnight, yang bekerja dengan tanpa huni dan penagih dadah. Vanunu memeluk Kristian dan telah dibaptiskan sebagai John Crossman ke dalam Anglican Church of Australia, mejadikan beliau lebih renggang dari keluarga beliau.

Release and Asylum Applications

In 2004, shortly before his scheduled release, Vanunu remained defiant under interrogation by the security service, Shin Bet. In recordings of the interview made public after his release, he is heard saying "I am neither a traitor nor a spy, I only wanted the world to know what was happening." He also said, "We don't need a Jewish state. There needs to be a Palestinian state. Jews can, and have lived anywhere, so a Jewish State is not necessary."
Vanunu was released from prison on April 21 2004. He indicated a desire to completely dissociate himself from Israel, initially refusing to speak in Hebrew, and planning to move to Europe or the US as soon as the Israeli government would permit him to do so.
A number of restrictions were placed upon Vanunu by Israeli authorities, who stated their reason was fear of him spreading further state secrets and that he is still bound by his non-disclosure agreement. These stipulate that he must inform the authorities of his place of residence and his movements between cities, and may not leave the country. These restrictions were extended to April 2006, and then April 2007, due to his violations of court rulings. While a court found in 2005 that he should be free to go to the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the 2006 restrictions explicitly forbade him to visit either, reversing the court's initial decision.
In addition, Vanunu is not allowed to meet with foreigners or contact them by phone or e-mail, enter or approach any embassy, visit any port of entry, or come within 500 metres of any international border crossing.
Vanunu says that his knowledge is now outdated and he has nothing more he could possibly reveal that is not already widely known. Despite the stated restrictions, since his release Vanunu has freely given interviews to the foreign press, including a live phone interview to BBC Radio Scotland.  
On April 22 2004, Vanunu asked the Norwegian government for a Norwegian passport and asylum in Norway for "humanitarian reasons," according to Norwegian news agencies. He also sent applications to other countries, and stated that he would accept asylum in any country because he fears for his life. Former conservative Norwegian Prime Minister Kåre Willoch asked the conservative government to give Vanunu asylum, and the University of Tromsø offered him a job. On April 9, 2008, it was revealed that Vanunu's request for asylum in Norway was rejected in 2004 by Erna Solberg, Minister of Local Government in the coalition government lead by then Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. While the Norwegian foreigner directorate (State Department) (UDI) had been prepared to grant Vanunu asylum, it was suddenly decided that the application could not be accepted because Vanunu had applied for it from outside of the borders of Norway. An unclassified document revealed that Solberg and the government considered that extracting Vanunu from Israel might be seen as an action against Israel and thereby unfitting the Norwegian government's tradition role as a friend of Israel and as a political player in the Middle East. Since the information has been revealed, Solberg has rejected criticism and defended her decision.
Vanunu's application for asylum in Sweden has also been rejected on the grounds that Sweden, like Norway does not accept absentee asylum applications. He also unsuccessfully requested asylum in Ireland, which would require him to first be allowed to leave Israel.
In 2006, Microsoft was accused  of helping Israeli police to obtain documents incriminating Vanunu.
On February 22, 2006 in a Jerusalem court it was revealed that Israeli police had led Microsoft to hand over all the details of Vanunu's Hotmail email account by alluding that he was being investigated for espionage. This happened before a court order had been obtained

Vanunu wrote: 
Microsoft obeyed the orders and gave them all the details...three months before I was arrested and my computers were confiscated...it is strange to ask Microsoft to give this information before obtaining the court order to listen to my private conversations. It means they wanted to go through my emails in secret, or maybe, with the help of the secret services, the Shaback, Mossad
.
International calls for his freedom of movement and freedom of speech made by organizations supporting Vanunu have been either ignored or rejected by Israel.
On May 15, 2008, the Norwegian Lawyer's Petition for Vanunu was released. It calls on the Norwegian government to urgently implement a three-point action plan within the framework of international and Norwegian law and allow Vanunu to travel to, live  and work in Norway.

Arrests and hearings

Since his release, Vanunu has appeared in Israeli courts on numerous occasions on charges of having violated the terms of his release. He was arrested and detained for attempting to go to Bethlehem, on at least one occasion his room in St. George's Cathedral was raided by policemen and his belongings were confiscated.

Support, awards, and honors

Amnesty International described his treatment as constituting "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment [...] such as is prohibited by international law."
Vanunu received the Right Livelihood Award in 1987, and was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Tromsø in 2001. He was nominated by Joseph Rotblat for the Nobel Peace Prize every year from 1988 to 2004. Former recipients are among the thousands of people and groups with rights to nominate Nobel candidates. The secretive Nobel committee never comments on specific nominations, but members often note that anyone can be nominated. In 2006 there were 191 nominations for the prize.
In 2005 he received the Peace Prize of the Norwegian People (Folkets fredspris). Previous recipients of this prize include Vytautas Landsbergis (1991), Alva Myrdal (1982), Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams. 
In September 2004, artist and musician Yoko Ono gave Mordechai Vanunu a peace prize founded in her late husband, John Lennon’s memory.
In December 2004, as a statement of solidarity, he was elected by the students of the University of Glasgow to serve for three years as Rector. On Friday April 22 2005 he was formally installed in the post, but cannot carry out any of its functions as he is still confined to Israel. Since then The Herald newspaper has launched a campaign for his release.
June 4, 2008: Vanunu seeks support in his Letter to Editors and the world: "I am asking the Media to report on my case and on the efforts of Norwegian Lawyers and citizens to grant me asylum...Israel was founded contingent on upholding the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I am asking the world to demand they honor it."