| Following five
years of legal and political struggle Conscientious objector Yinnon Hiller exempted from military service. Press Release 25 August 2003 New Profile: This is an important step on the way to fully recognising the human right to conscientious objection in Israel. Several days ago, the Israeli army notified conscientious objector Yinnon Hiller that he has been exempted from military service. Almost five years earlier, in October 1998, Hiller, then 16 years old, notified the Israeli Minister of Defence of his conscientious objection to perform military service on pacifist grounds. Hiller was interviewed twice by Israel’s military ‘conscience committee’, which recognised him as a pacifist but nevertheless declined his request to perform alternative civilian service instead of military service. In December 2000 Yinnon Hiller, represented by attorneys Ori Keidar and Zivan Toby-Alimi of the Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar Law Firm, has filed a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court against the decision of the military conscience committee in his case. This court appeal paved the way for more appeals on this issue (by Jonathan Ben-Artzi, Amir Malenky and other conscientious objectors). It has become a milestone in the history of the ongoing struggle for the full recognition of the right to conscientious objection in Israel. The New Profile movement, which accompanied Yinnon and his family throughout
this process, welcomes the army’s decision to exempt him from military
service. This decision amounts to a de-facto recognition by the army of Hiller’s conscientious objection. This is an important step on the way to
fully recognising the human right for conscientious objection in Israel. We
hope that more steps in the same direction will be made in the future, says
New Profile. |