CO UPDATE

Editorial

Dear reader of co-update e-newsletter. First let me apologise for the lack of a co-update e-newsletter last month - this was due too much work pressure because of the upcoming WRI conference 'Globalising Nonviolence'. And while we are at it - there will not be a co-update e-newsletter in September, as the Right to Refuse to Kill staff will be on sabbatical from 20 August on. We hope to be back on schedule from October on - although the October issue will be a few days late too.

The focus of this issue is conscientious objection in Colombia, where War Resisters' International attended an international meeting on solidarity with conscientious objectors in Bogota from 18-20 July 2006.
Israel's war in Lebanon also needs attention, as we expect more refusers to be imprisoned in the near future. A first co-alert was emailed out today. But with the call-up of thousands of reservists more refusers are to be expected.

Andreas Speck

Upcoming events

1 December - Prisoners for Peace Day: Focus on Russia

Prisoners for Peace Day 2006 will highlight the situation in Russia, with the new NGO law threatening the work of independent NGOs and the war in Chechnya also leading to increased persecution in Russia itself. The Prisoners for Peace campaign pack will be available early November in English, Spanish, French, and German. Contact the WRI office for more information.

Witnessing Conscientious Objection from Turkey to the World: History and Breaking News.

Istanbul, 27-28 January 2007

A conference of academics, legal experts, and activists will take place at Istanbul Bilgi University in January, to support the right to conscientious objection in Turkey. The conference is organised by a conference committee, with support of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International Turkey, War Resisters' International and the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection. For more information, contact Ozgur Heval Cinar.

CO-Update

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War Resisters' International, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, Britain; tel +44-20-7278 4040; fax +44-20-7278 0444; email co-update-editor@wri-irg.org

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Colombia: International meeting on solidarity with conscientious objectors

From 18-20 July 2006, the International Meeting on Solidarity with Conscientious Objectors in Colombia took place in Bogota.
The opening speech was given by WRI's Right to Refuse to Kill staff person Andreas Speck, who provided a general panorama on conscientious objection in the world, setting the framework for the meeting. This was followed by a presentation by Carlos Gutiérrez Carvajal on conscientious objection in Colombia, its history, development, organisational processes and proposals for the future.

Participants of the conference came from several regions of Colombia - including Bogota, Medellin, Cauca, Arauca, Villa Rica - and from Ecuador, Paraguay, Serbia, Spain, the United States, plus War Resisters' International and Conscience and Peace Tax International as international organisations.
The presentations at the conference focused on three different aspects: international and national law regarding the right to conscientious objection, the experience of other movements for conscientious objection (especially Serbia, Spain, Paraguay, and the United States), and the movement for conscientious objection in Colombia itself. One of the most important discussions for the Colombian CO movement was the one on counseling and support to conscientious objectors, both locally/nationally and internationally.

The relevance is obvious: Colombian conscientious objectors act in an environment without legal recognition of the right to conscientious objection by the Colombian state, not to mention the other armed actors, such as the guerrillas, militias, and paramilitaries.

The graphic on the right shows that draft avoidance is a widespread phenomenon in Colombia - reaching around 45% in 2003. However, open conscientious objection is relatively low, and not covered by any statistics. A major problem for draft evaders and conscientious objectors alike is the lack of a military ID card, which is needed for many basic things in Colombian society: studying and graduating from university, applying for a job or driving license, etc. Besides fear of arrest and persecution (or forced recruitment by the militia or guerrilla), the impossibility to live a normal life makes conscientious objection and difficult choice, especially in a country where unemployment is high, and 'enlisting' in any of the armed forces can also be seen as a way of survival.

The international meeting developed several ideas for closer cooperation and international protection strategies, which will require further discussion and development before implementation. In September, a national assembly of Colombian conscientious objectors will decide about the next steps of the Colombian CO movement.

Azerbaijan: conscientious objector sentenced to six month suspended sentence

Despite its commitment to recognise the right to conscientious objection, Azerbaijan has still not passed a law on conscientious objection. As a result, conscientious objectors face trials and sentencing for "refusing to perform military service". Forum 18 reported on 26 July on the six months suspended sentence for Jehovah's Witness CO Mushfiq Mammedov. "My son has done nothing wrong – he's not guilty," Sevil Najafova told Forum 18 from the Azerbaijani capital on 26 July. "He told the Military Commissariat he's prepared to do alternative unarmed service in line with his religious beliefs."

Najafova said her son can work, live at home and also attend religious meetings during his sentence. "No-one has said what he can and can't do." However, she said she fears that if he fails in his appeal, officials could find a reason to accuse him of violating the terms of his suspended sentence and send him to prison. "We're very afraid they could do this at any moment." She said her son's mood was "not good" in the wake of the sentence. "He hoped for a more just verdict."

Mammedov's prosecution and the failure to introduce alternative non-military service violate Azerbaijan's specific commitment to the Council of Europe. When Azerbaijan joined in 2001, it pledged to introduce alternative service by January 2003, but did not do so. Hajiev of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations insisted to Forum 18 that the long-promised alternative service law will be adopted "in the next year" It will then, he claimed, be possible for young men to opt for alternative service. "But this law does not yet exist."

Mammedov, who is 23, was arrested on 28 April, nine months after telling Sabail District Military Commissariat in Baku that he was unable to perform compulsory military service on grounds of his religious conviction. He demanded instead to be allowed to perform alternative service guaranteed by the Constitution. He was held for nearly a month in Baku's Bayil investigative prison.

Mammedov's trial began at Baku's Sabail District Court on 30 June under Article 321.1 of the Criminal Code, which punishes evasion of military service with a sentence of up to two years' imprisonment.
The last hearing in the case took place on 20 July. Jehovah's Witness sources say the judge behaved correctly and praised Mammedov in court for being "very educated and cultivated". Although the prosecutor was demanding a suspended sentence of one year, on 21 July the judge handed down the suspended six-month sentence.

Recent co-alerts

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:
(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

• [co-alert] ISR14797-14798-14799-030806: ISRAEL: Lebanon war resisters in prison Thu Aug 03
• [co-alert] US14796-150606: USA: Army Specialist Suzanne Swift might face desertion charges Thu Jun 15