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US14915-070307
USA: Conscientious objector Agustin Aguayo sentenced to 8 months imprisonment
Yesterday, US conscientious
objector Agustin Aguayo (US14915) was sentenced to eight months
imprisonment by a US court martial in Würzburg, Germany. Aguayo had
been charged with desertion and missing movement of his unit. Besides
being sentenced to eight months imprisonment, the court martial also
ordered his degradation and a dishonourable discharge.
For almost three years, Aguayo tried to be recognised and discharged as
conscientious objector - without success. On 1 September 2006, he
refused to deploy with his unit to Iraq, and fled from the military
barracks in Schweinfurt, where he was serving as a medic. He presented
himself on 26 September, and was imprisoned immediately.
During the trial, Agustin Aguayo again stated his conscientious
objection, which lead him to go absent without leave to avoid being
forced to deploy to Iraq. However, he denied that he intended to desert.
The prosecution demanded 30 months of imprisonment, to deter other
soldiers from choosing a similar path of action.
With the sentencing of Agustin Aguayo for desertion and missing
movement of his unit, the court martial denied him his right to
conscientious objection, as enshrined in Article 18 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The fact that
Agustin Aguayo was not able to get a discharge as conscientious
objector, and was forced to go AWOL, highlights the inadequateness of
the US military procedures for conscientious objectors, which again and
again force COs to commit military offences, and spent time in prison.
Luckily for Aguayo, the court martial counts the time he already
spent in prison since 26 September 2006. This means Aguayo will have to
serve about 40 more days, and will be released in mid-April.
War Resisters' International calls for letters/emails of support to Agustín Aguayo -- email (will be forward to him via mail) augie@aguayodefense.org.
War Resisters' International calls for letters of protest to the US
authorities, or US embassies abroad. A protest email to US President
George W. Bush can be sent at http://wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20070307a.html.
War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of
Agustin Aguayo and all other imprisoned conscientious objectors.
Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International
wri-irg.org