Chile

"Social Militarisation in Latin America: experiences of resistance to the New World Order"
and International nonviolent action training

War Resisters' International
Peace House, 5 Caledonian Road
London N1 9DX
Britain
tel +44-20-7278 4040
fax +44-20-7278 0444
email info@wri-irg.org
http://wri-irg.org

Ni Casco Ni Uniforme
Rob

This is an - incomplete - list of groups in Latin America working on issues of conscientious objection and related areas.

Medellín is a city of contrasts, where you find many ways of life. But in parallel, in different neighbourhoods, people live and wage a war that, besides death and prolonged absences, leaves an odd feeling of normality - as if, here, nothing will happen.

But it does happen, and increasingly proposals that people should arm themselves to defend life and institutional normality gain strength, proposals that divide the world between goodies and baddies.

International Conscientious Objectors' Day is celebrated on 15 May since the early 1980's. It is a day to highlight the struggle of conscientious objectors for the right to conscientious objection, and against war and militarism, globally.

The disproportionate influence of militarism in Chile is not entirely due to Pinochet's military dictatorship (1973-90) but rather is a historical construction that has given character and form to the Chilean nation-state.

The focus of this year's International Conscientious Objectors' Day is a country - Chile - but also Latin America in general.

Dr Ruby Osorio

Thirty years after the military coup in Chile, one of its principal "humanitarian legacies" continues to be the task of working out the pain of the unforgettable memories left by the merciless disappearances. Much has been written and is known about the devastating impact that someone's disappearance can have on an individual, a family and a community.

International Conscientious Objectors' Day 2004 focuses on conscientious objection in Chile and Latin America. Jointly with Ni Casco Ni Uniforme War Resisters' International is organising an international seminar and nonviolent action training in Santiago, culminating in an international nonviolent action on 15 May - International Conscientious Objectors' Day.

The activities will start with an international seminar “Social Militarisation in Latin America: Experiences of Resistance to the New World Order” at the Universidad Bolivariana in Santiago, Chile, on 10/11 May 2004.

Today, 11 September 2003, these are our reflections about the transition, the dictatorship and the military coup:

We have been invaded by a series of commemorative acts. Faced with this, we think that the memory should not be spent in the form of remembrances and commemorations, that the act of remembering should not paralyse nor bring to a close the construction of a freer society that respects the dignity of all men and women.

(adapted from what I read on September 11th in Nuremberg)

Dear Friends

Facilitation: Joanne Sheehan,War Resisters'International

Truth commissions have been set up in countries that have endured violent conditions and where human rights have been systematically violated. In these countries the new political regime, where there has been war, or transitional governments, where there has been a dictatorship, do not have a judicial system capable of dealing with the consequences of the past. The existing systems cannot be relied upon to prosecute those responsible for previous human rights violations, because usually violence has been perpetrated by the state and its institutions, including the Justice Department.