CO UPDATE
The monthly email newsletter of War Resisters' International's The Right to Refuse to Kill programme || Index of past issues | español
Editorial
This is the June issue of CO-Update, produced between WRI's visit to Colombia (see main article) and the activities against the G8 summit in Germany. There, War Resisters' International will be present at the Alternative Summit.This issue of co-update has a strong focus on Latin America - besides Colombia, we also have news from Ecuador, where there is hope to advance the issue using the Inter-American system.
Andreas Speck
Upcoming events
WRI Seminar and Council 2007 in Israel
The annual WRI seminar and Council meeting will take place in Israel in 2007,from 23-26 August. The theme of the seminar will be on militarism and gender. Please contact the WRI Office if you are interested in participating, and want to be kept informed.
More information is available on the WRI website.
CO-Update
Monthly email newsletter of WRI's Right to Refuse to Kill Programme
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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War Resisters' International visits Colombia
15 May - International Conscientious Objectors' Day
War Resisters' International visited the Colombian cities of Medellin, Bogota, and Barrancabermeja in May 2007, to take part in the international activities for International Conscientious Objectors' Day, and to discuss the question of conscientious objection with a range of Colombian authorities and NGOs.
The activities took off on 12 May with the Antimili Sonoro 2007, an open-air concert in the part Boston under the slogan "We object to recruitment and all forms of militarisation of our lives". All together 12 different bands from Medellin and Colombia played antimilitarist hip-hop, punk, reggae, and heavy metal.
For International Conscientious Objectors' Day, CO activists from several Latin American countries and Spain met with groups from almost all regions of Colombia in Medellin to coordinate activities, and to celebrate 15th May. The day after the concert, about 90 CO activists gathered in a Finca in the north of Medellin to discuss and coordinate international solidarity for conscientious objectors in Colombia. Not only does the Colombian state not recognise the right to conscientious objection (see co-update No 29, May 2007), and recruits objectors by force off the streets in regular raids by the military - the country's youth also faces recruitment by paramilitary forces and several guerilla groups (FARC, ELN, and others). But after more than 50 years of armed conflict the message of Colombias CO groups is clear: they don't want to support any of the armed forces in the country, and opt for conscientious objection and nonviolent solutions.
The activists returned to Medellin on 15 May, for a nonviolent action in the center of Medellin, highlighting the issues of illegal recruitment by the Colombian military and other armed actors, and the option of conscientious objection. The action itself was a powerful performance. highlighting the positive attitude of Colombia's CO activists.
Meetings with authorities
After the end of the activities, a range of meetings with authorities was scheduled, first in Medellin, then in Bogota, and finally in Barrancabermeja. In all these places, we met with the Defensoria del pueblo (office of the ombudsman for human rights) and the Personeria (a municipal institution dealing with human rights). In Medellin and Bogota, we also met with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia. In Bogota two central government institutions were on the agenda: the Vice-President's office, and the Ministry of Defense. And in Barrancabermeja we also met with the military of the Batallón plan energético y vial Nº 7, where a conscientious objector is presently being forced to serve his military service (see co-alert, 31 May 2007).
During all these meetings, the discussion focused on two main aspects: the right to conscientious objection, and the illegal recruitment practices of the Colombian military.
Recruitment: illegal and arbitrary
What became clear during the visit to Colombia is that the recruitment practice of the Colombian military poses a great threat to almost all youth between 17-22 years, especially those from poorer neighbourhhoods or from rural areas. While law 48/1993 regulates the recruitment process, the practice is very different.
The usual practice of recruitment is through so-called "batidas"- sweeps - during which the military checks all youth on a bus station, in a public square, or wherever there are many youth. Whoever cannot show that he has regularised his military situation - by showing the 'libreta militar' or a student pass - will be thrown on a military truck, and brought to the nearest military barracks, and immediately incorporated into the military. As this is not proper procedure according to law 48/1993, the new 'recruits' are often pressured to sign several papers, one of which is a declaration that the person joined the military voluntarily.
Batidas are so common that they seem to be the normal form of recruitment, and not an exception. Among many youth, there is no awareness whatsoever that this is not a legal form of recruitment, but is illegal according to Colombian and international law.
Presently, Red Juvenil deals with two cases of illegal recruitment - clearly only the tip of the iceberg. These cases are the case of Carlos Andrés Giraldo Hincapié, who had been recruited on 4 August 2006, and of Frank Yair Estrada Marin, recruited on 5 May 2007. War Resisters' International has issued alerts in both cases.
Perspectives
War Resisters' International is now working closely with the National Assembly of Conscientious Objectors on an international strategy of protection and accompaniment for conscientious objectors. Part of this strategy is a "Tarjeta Objetor/a de Conciencia", issued by War Resisters' International to those Colombian conscientious objectors who want it. In some way, the libreta objetor/a de conciencia is a form of "virtual accompaniment", similar to the physical accompaniment Peace Brigades International tries to provide to some threatened human rights activists in Colombia (and elsewhere). This CO card is based on a WRI database of conscientious objectors in Colombia, which will allow to act quickly in case of recruitment of a conscientious objector.
Besides emergency solidarity actions in case of recruitment, War Resisters' International and the National Assembly of Conscientious Objectors are also working on a legal strategy, using the international legal system, such as the UN Human Rights System. Presently, work is under way to identify which Colombian case is suitable for an individual complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee for violation of article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Other cases - especially of recruitment of conscientious objectors - will be presented to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
After years of work in small groups, conscientious objection is a growing movement in Colombia. This movement needs international support.
More information is available on WRI's Colombia campaign page at http://wri-irg.org/co/colcampaign-en.htm.
The database on Colombian conscientious objectors is available at https://lists.wri-irg.org/codb.
China: military training for students?
According to an article posted on the World Socialist Website, China issued a student military training programme, jointly by the ministry of education, the general staff headquarters and the general political department of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on 21 April. This programme formalises military training throughout the country’s high schools and universities.
According to the article, China already has a system of conscription on paper, requiring all citizens aged 18-22 to carry out 24 months of military service. In practice, Beijing has never enforced the draft as the PLA has always been able to recruit enough volunteers from peasant youth, desperate to get out of the impoverished countryside. Young people seeking to enter tertiary education have been exempt from military service.
A significant component of the military training is ideological. The stated aim is “to allow students to grasp basic military skills and theory, and enhance their understanding of defence and the consciousness of national security”. The plan is to strengthen the submission of students to “organisation” and “discipline”, as well as to instill the values of “patriotism”, “collectivism” and “revolutionary heroism”.
The new policy calls for an expansion of defence courses and professional military staff on tertiary campuses. In each high school, at least one director must be appointed in charge of the military training. Education departments will establish a system of joint offices with the PLA to direct school military training. The new military training will be compulsory for all high school and college students, and their performance will be part of their education records.
Source: WSWS, 10 May 2007
Ecuador: Conscientious objection case at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
A case of conscientious objection from Ecuador has been admitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The case has been filed by Xavier Leon, an active member of the Ecuadorian conscientious objectors' movement. According to the petition, Xavier Leon "made a declaration of conscientious objection on September 2, 1999, and from October 16, 1999 until October 15, 2000, carried out civic service in the community as a human rights extension worker in the Ecuadorian Peace and Justice Service (SERPAJE-E), as provided for in the 1997 Political Constitution of Ecuador, he has not been issued with the card which defines his status as conscientious objector or similar, that would have the same legal effects as the military card given to those who complete obligatory military service. According to the petitioner, this omission has directly affected his freedom of conscience, the continuation of his education, his freedom to leave and enter Ecuador freely, as well as his right to work and engage in free enterprise."
In its admissability decision, the Commission writes: "The Commission considers that the right to refuse to comply with military service or conscientious objection is a right that could derive from Articles 11 and 12, read together with Article 6.3.b of the American Convention where conscientious objectors are expressly recognized in the legislation of the state under consideration. The 1997 Constitution of Ecuador recognizes this right in Article 188. The question that has been lodged with the Commission and which must be resolved at the merits stage is whether the procedure used in Ecuador to regulate the condition of conscientious objector, and the different forms of substitute service permitted, are compatible with the provisions of the conventions quoted above. Therefore, the Commission must examine the allegations of the petitioner in relation to the alleged affectation of other rights such as the right to education and the right to freedom of movement caused by the lack of a military identity card."
If decided positive, the case will have important implications all over Latin America, especially regarding the 'libreta militar', and the issue of discrimination. As Ecuador recognises the right to conscientious objection in its constitution, but fails to implement this right in its legislation, the case is very different from the case of Chile, which was decided unfavourably by the court in 2005 (Case 12219, 10 March 2005).
Besides using the Inter-American system, Ecuador's conscientious objectors are also preparing to lobby the constitutional assembly, which from November on will meet to write a new constitution for the country.
Source: Petition 278-02
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-UPDATE: the monthly email newsletter of War Resisters' International's The Right to Refuse to Kill programme || Index of past issues