Jailhouse rock

News in Brief

On 25 August, 18-year-old Israeli conscientious objector Omri Baranes was finally accepted as a pacifist by an Israeli defence forces (IDF) committee and released from detention on conscientious grounds. She had served 67 days over three separate sentences. She is now exempt from military service.

Just over a month earlier, on 14 July, the IDF exempted Tair Kaminer, a 19-year old Israeli conscientious objector. She had received six successive sentences, amounting to 155 days altogether, in military jails. She was released as being ‘unfit for duty’ because of her ‘poor and severe behaviour’ – because she opposed the IDF’s policies in the occupied territories, and therefore refused to serve.

In prison, the pair received support from a small network of activists, called the Refusers’ Solidarity Network, established less than a year ago.