NEW GROUP SEEKS AMNESTY FOR COMMON CRIMINALS

TEL AVIV A newly formed citizens' committee has mounted a campaign for a
50th anniversary amnesty to be granted to inmates sentenced for drug and
debtrelated offenses, spokesmen said yesterday.

The Citizens' Committee for Amnesty will not seek pardons for anyone
convicted of major felonies such as murder or rape, a news conference was
told.

"We are not political and our efforts cut across racial and ethnic lines,"
former MK Charlie Biton said. "But it cannot be denied that the vast
majority of prisoners in Israeli jails belong to the Sephardic population."

Major efforts are being directed at winning freedom for those jailed for
drugrelated offenses. According to committee member Cohavi Shemesh, 77% of
prisoners "are drug addicts who should be in rehabilitation programs and
not behind bars, and 66% require treatment."

Veteran Black Panther member Reuven Abergil argued that many Sephardim in
jail for drugrelated crimes grew up in circumstances of economic and
social deprivation, as did many Israeli Arabs who account for 50% of prison
drug addicts.

Shemesh said the committee was formed out of concern that the amnesty
proposed by Jubilee Committee Chairman Yitzhak Moda'i would apply mainly to
whitecollar criminals, rather than "the real unfortunate prisoners whose
crime is based on social circumstance."

Posters are being advertised and a Knesset lobby will try to focus
awareness on the issue to obtain quick passage of a law to pardon minor
offenders.

A series of five advertisements will feature a poster that says: "Israel,
will you not ask peace for your prisoners?"

Knesset support for the effort cuts across party lines. Backers include
former Speaker Shevah Weiss (Labor), Finance Committee Chairman Avraham
Ravitz (Degel Hatorah), Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, and MK Reuven Rivlin
(Likud). Other supporters include actor/director Arnon Zadok and director
David BenShitrit.