Colombia

Communication addressed to the Government on 5 October 2007.

Concerning Mr. Frank Yair Estrada Marin, Mr. Carlos Andrés Giraldo Hincapié and Mr. Alejandro de Jesús González Duque.

The State is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Statement by Latin American antimilitarists

We don't need another war. We, conscientious objectors and antimilitarists from Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and all Latin America and the Caribbean, united, emphatically refuse a military escalation leading to a war that, once more, will try to divide us. With hunger, corruption, extreme militarism, shameless military spending, civil insecurity, the continual assault on human rights by our governments, we already have enough without being given another armed conflict.

In the early weeks of 2008, Colombia experienced a wave of "batidas" - raids on youth on public places such as bus stations in order to recruit draft evaders or anyone without the appropriate military papers to the military.

1. El derecho a la objeción de conciencia en el ley colombiano

Articulo 18 de la Constitución Política dice:

Se garantiza la libertad de conciencia.

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CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR'S COLLECTIVE ACTION

You say you know Colombia very well. What about Bogotá?

I know Bogotá very well, but the problem is not just Bogotá...first of all, Bogotá has to be cleaned out of all militia. And in Cundinamarca the work localized in regions where there is influence of illegal armed groups needs to be consolidated. That way, Cundinamarca can become a model region. In short terms, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug dealers need to be out.

The approach would solve it all.

El comunicado No. 0066 0066 / DICOR-Z4-DIM 27-S1-155 del ejército nacional expedida en el año 2006 solicita la colaboración de los rectores de instituciones universitarias para dar cumplimiento a la Ley 48 de 1993, para lo cual, entre otras indicaciones, instruye sobre la obligación de presentar la tarjeta de reservista o provisional militar para "matricularse por primera vez en cualquier centro docente de educación superior", citando inadecuadamente el artículo 36 de la Ley 48 de 1993, como veremos más adelante.

The "libreta militar" was also subject to a decision of the Constitutional Court in Colombia on 15 August. Here it was not about the legality of the card itself, but about the payment for the "libreta militar".

The National Assembly of Conscientious Objectors - ANOOC is a network of organizations and groups of different regions of Colombia who are promoting conscientious objection against all - legal and illegal - armed groups, with a non-violent approach.

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)

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.

FRIENDS WORLD COMMITTEE FOR CONSULTATION (QUAKERS) www.quno.org

Rachel Brett

Introduction

The issue of conscientious objection to military service has been addressed within the United Nations (UN) human rights system in a number of ways, but most notably through resolutions of the (former) UN Commission on Human Rights, through the Special Procedures of the (now) Human Rights Council,[1] and through the Human Rights Committee[2] in both individual cases and when considering State report