<<<<January 2007

»  Action alert in support of Halil Savda
Write in support of this conscientious objector.

»  Payday's message to the demonstration supporting Halil in Istanbul (21 December)

»  Watada acclaimed in Hawaii
See major press coverage

 
Ehren Watada

9 December Protest in Istanbul for the release of Halil Savda

»  Halil Savda must be released, says the Conscientious Objection Platform. Protests are planned in Ankara (19 Dec) and Istanbul (21 Dec) prior to Halil's trial on 22 December.

»  Mehmet Tarhan court case against the brutality he suffered in prison. Documents from his solicitor and from the Conscientious Objection Platform.

» Army targets Truthout in Watada case.
A US Army prosecutor has indicated he intends to subpoena Truthout Executive Director Marc Ash, a Truthout reporter, and two of the nonprofit news organization's regular contributors
» Man who set himself ablaze after son died in Iraq becomes citizen. Carlos Arredondo tried to destroy a military van and set himself on fire in his grief over the news that his son, a Marine, had been killed in Iraq.
» Refusing to Kill video in Greece

Carlos Arrenondo

A jail guard gives the peace sign outside the Makati City Jail where convicted U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith is staying

» Turkish conscientious objector Halil Savda arrested at his trial.
» Mother of Army Officer refusing Iraq deployment goes to Congress “As a mother, I have evolved from fearing for his safety and for his future to the realization that there is a higher purpose to all that has transpired,”  Caroline Ho
» US. Marine sentenced to 40 years' jail in landmark rape case in Philippines.  A U.S. Marine faces 40 years in jail after being convicted of rape in a landmark case that has become a symbol for women's rights and national sovereignty in the Philippines.

» Showing of video Refusing to Kill to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first public non-religious declaration of conscience objection in Greece
by Michalis Maragkakis.

» Pictures of 1 December actions.

» Disability Now speaks to Peter Gichura.

» Carolyn Ho on tour.
The mother of refusenik Lt Watada is touring the East coast of the US. See dates here.

Sgt. Leana Nishimura

» International days of action to protest against imprisonming of refuseniks:
London 1 December
Istanbul 1 December
Philadelphia 2 December
Athens 9 December
» Yearning to be whole again. Sergeant Leana Nishimura sees the light after year of emotional, family turmoil. More than 155,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 16,000 single mothers. . .
» School board votes to dump JROTC program. After 90 years in San Francisco high schools, the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps must go, the San Francisco school board decided Tuesday night.

» Mehmet Tarhan writes: a call to attention concerning the decision of October 10. "Spending my life on the edge of a geography plagued by civil war and drowning in conflict has driven me to question the armed forces, the war economy, the states' system, in short, militarism".
» Norfolk-based sailor Jonathan Hutto uses web to channel opposition to war. "Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home."

Seaman Jonathan Hutto

 
Greek conscientious objectors were the first to support Mehmet Tarhan when he was arrested in April 2005

» Kurdish objector defies Turkey's mighty army
“My purpose is not the abolition of the Turkish Armed Forces, but of all armies,” Tarhan told Reuters recently. 

» Desertion rate has doubled since start of war in Iraq
Rather than finding the deserters, the army tends simply to write off the missing soldiers and dismiss them in their absence. The new figures show that only 11 have been court-martialled since the war began.

» PRESS RELEASE: Carolyn Ho, mother of first commissioned Army officer to refuse to go to Iraq, in Philadelphia, 01 November 2006

» Carolyn Ho's letter to her sisters in spirit.  Also see http://www.ltwatada.org/

» Giorgos Monastiriotis: appeal hearing on 31 October 2006. My refusal is a minimal act of solidarity with the Iraqi people as well as to the peaceful sentiments of the Greek people.

Giorgos Monastiriotis

»  Breaking the Silence of the Night
"You’ve been taught to follow orders, to obey and not question, to go along with the program and do exactly what you’re told." Ron Kovic
»  Occupation Refuser Omri Evron Sentenced to 14 Days in Military Prison. Omri was put in solitary confinement having refused to wear uniform and obey orders.

Sit down for Peace   4 - 9 November

See War Resisters International's call and write to Turkish authorities

»  Recognition of Gulf War Syndrome Payday's press release highlights Alez Izett's recent victory.

December 2005: international day of action
to defend Mehmet

Agustin Aguayo

Lt. Ehren Watada

» Lieutenant Watada Faces New Charges
US Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, faces one new charge. The additional charge, of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen, centers on Lieutenant Watada's statement that "to stop an illegal and unjust war, soldiers can choose to stop fighting it."

Suzanne Swift