REFUSING TO KILL IS NOT A CRIME
UPDATE JUNE 2010 www.refusingtokill.net

DEFEND REFUSENIKS' RIGHT TO STAY

CANADA

Jeremy Hinzman

The first US soldier to take refuge in Canada (2004) is awaiting the outcome of his May court hearing. In parallel, the War Resisters Support Campaign has been pressing for Bill C-440 which will allow US Iraq War resisters to apply for permanent residency. 

GERMANY

André Shepherd

US soldier who went AWOL and applied for asylum in Germany in November 2008. André is still waiting for the German Federal Office to decide on this precedent setting case, which if won would open a safe haven for war resisters in Europe.
Connection e. V.

Sitting with son Liam and Toronto-born daughter Meghan, Jeremy’s wife Nga Nguyen said at a peace vigil:  “We want to raise our children in a society that will not imprison their father for refusing to kill another human being …a society that upholds the sacredness of life higher than a human contract.”  War Resisters Support Campaign

USA  Berkeley council votes for amnesty

On 9 March, Berkeley City Council (California) passed Resolution No. 64,803 N.S. recommending “universal and unconditional amnesty for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan war military resisters and veterans who acted in opposition to the war for matters of conscience.”

UK SUPPORT EDO DECOMMISSIONERS

On 17 January 2009, as the bombs rained down on Gaza, six people entered the EDO weapons factory in Brighton, UK. They threw computers out of windows and took hammers to machinery for weapons production. The factory was out of action for a month after damages of £300,000.

Smash EDO Campaign

Write to: Elijah Smith A3186AM,
HMP Lewes,
1 Brighton Rd, Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 1EA.

One of the six, Elijah Smith (pictured), has been on remand since his arrest in January 2009.  The trial started on 7 June.  In court, defendants won the right to argue that they had committed a crime in order to prevent a bigger crime. Recently juries acquitted those who damaged the Raytheon weapons factory in Derry, North of Ireland.

USA “ARMY EXPERIENCE CENTER” SHUT DOWN

Two years of marches, civil disobedience and refusal to be recruited shut down this recruitment center in Philadelphia, USA.
Brandywine Peace Community

GREECE WOMEN TARGET THE MILITARY BUDGET

On 9 May, conscientious objectors, women’s and other anti-war groups protested in front of the Ministry of Defence in Athens to demand: money not for weapons but to combat poverty, which particularly affects women; missions abroad of Greek forces (in Afghanistan and Kosovo); and structures to support women against violence.

UK JOE GLENTON

The first soldier in Europe to have publicly refused to go to Afghanistan was court-martialled on 5 March. He is serving a nine-month sentence – less than it might have been, thanks to international actions, pickets and letter/email campaigns.  Public opinion everywhere is against the occupation of Afghanistan. Pressure also ended harassment in prison because he had dared to maintain his refusal.  He is expected out in July/August. Write/email him:
defendjoeglenton@gmail.com

Military Corrective Training Centre, Berechurch Hall Camp, Colchester CO2 9NU

CONSCRIPTION IN EUROPE

On May 15, the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) met in Barcelona and criticised:

GREECE for convicting Giorgos Monastiriotis (pictured), former professional soldier who refused to go to Iraq in 2003 (five-month suspended sentence), and Evangelos Mihalopoulos, who refused the punitive civilian service in 2007 (eight-month suspended sentence). 

TURKEY for jailing Enver Aydemir for 15 months for his refusal based on his Muslim beliefs.  He has just been released. EBCO urges Turkey to recognise the right to conscientious objection.

Seven out of the 27 European Union member states are still imposing conscription: Austria*, Cyprus*, Denmark, Estonia*, Finland*, Greece*, Germany. (* with punitive civilian service)

On 24 Feb 2010, the Council of Europe Committee of Minisrers adopted  Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4 which says that “professional members of the armed forces should be able to leave the armed forces for reasons of conscience” and “should not be subject to discrimination or to any criminal prosecution”. 

ISRAEL UK and Italian tour for refusenik

A member of the Shministim, (High school refusers) Or Ben David (pictured) was jailed three times. After her release, she has toured the UK and Italy. For her, “To refuse means to say no: no to war, no to a society that forces youths to carry weapons, kill and be killed.”  Shministim

Ex Marine disarmed Flotilla murderers

Ken O’Keefe, former US Marine, Gulf War veteran, and now survivor of the Mavi Marmara massacre, issued a searing statement from Istanbul on 7 June: “I was directly involved in the disarming of two Israeli commandos who had already murdered two brothers.” 

USA  REFUSING TO BE KILLED - OPPOSING THE DEATH PENALTY

Mumia Abu-Jamal, former Black Panther & journalist convicted in 1982 of killing a policeman in a trial drenched in racism, has spent most of his 28 years in prison on Pennsylvania’s death row.  Sign the Petition to President Obama:   Mumia Abu-Jamal & the Global Abolition of the Death Penalty.  This petition is a vital part of the legal effort to save his life.
Read Mumia’s new book, Jailhouse Lawyers: “a crucial aspect of the growing movement against the prison-industrial complex.” Selma James

Troy Davis, convicted of murdering a white police officer in Georgia in 1991, remains on death row even though 7 of 9 witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony. An evidentiary hearing on 23 June, won after repeated rejection by the courts, will finally let Troy present the evidence proving his innocence. See Troy Davis website

22 June – International Day of Action for
Troy Davis

Please write to people inside

“When I was imprisoned thousands of letters from supporters were very reassuring and helped me to make friends and keep the guards off my back.”  Stephen Funk, first US soldier to be jailed for refusing to serve in Iraq.

+ MUMIA ABU JAMAL AM 8335, SCI-Greene 175 Progress Drive, Waynesburg, PA 15370, USA

+ TROY A. DAVIS 657378 GDCP PO Box 3877 G-3-79 Jackson, Georgia 30233  USA

+ RON GIBSON (OSIRIS ABU AMEER), SCI-Greene, #BQ5220, 175 Progress Drive, Waynesburg, PA, 15370-8090  USA

Osiris Abu Ameer, father and artist, on death row, was convicted of murdering an off-duty police officer and a young woman in 1990, in a Philadelphia district notorious for corruption and racism.  He is fighting for a change of sentence to life, but is also challenging his conviction.  Order his hand painted cards from our website.

Department of Corrections

Payday men’s network, working with the Global Women’s Strike - Invest in Caring Not Killing!

PO Box 287 London NW6 5QU  Tel +44 207 209 4751

PO Box 11795 Philadelphia, PA 19101 Tel +1 215 848 1120

payday@paydaynet.org      www.refusingtokill.net