Hey Everyone,
We are trying to get over 100 organizations of all sizes, shapes and colors to sign-on to this letter about youth rights and conscientious objection. These could be community groups, collectives, schools, churches, university groups -- all are welcome! If you think your organization would be interested in signing on, please shoot me an email.
Thanks,
Gina
Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno
Minister of National Defense
Bogota, Colombia
Dear Minister Pinzón:
As representatives of faith-based, academic and other civil society organizations, we are deeply concerned about the human rights of Colombian youth who not only are recruited by illegal armed groups but also victims of illegal and irregular recruitment practices carried out by the Colombian military. We urge you to adopt practices throughout the Colombian military that will respect conscientious objectors, put an end to the illegal practice of street round ups (“batidas”), and adopt other recruitment protocols that strictly follow the law.
Colombia's Constitution requires all young men who are 18 years of age to fulfill obligatory military service. At the same time, Article 18 of the Constitution states that "...freedom of conscience is guaranteed. No one will be obliged to act against his/her conscience." Colombia is also a signer of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that recognizes the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The right to conscientious objection was made more explicit by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1993, recognizing that the right to conscientiously object to military service can be derived from article 18 in the original United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[1]
Furthermore, the Colombian Constitutional Court sentence C-728 of 2009 recognizes the right to conscientious objection to military service under the Colombian Constitution. The legal requirement for the majority of young males to perform military service is now set against the right not to be forced to act in contravention of one’s deepest moral, religious or political convictions. The court stressed that even though no legislation governing the right to conscientious objection exists, it is immediately applicable, and protection can be sought through a tutela(writ for protection), in case the armed forces do not recognize it (para 5.2.6.5).
Despite the above-mentioned legal framework recognizing this right, in practice the Colombian armed forces demonstrate little knowledge of the rights of conscientious objectors, and force them to serve despite their personal convictions. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Colombia stated in its 2010 report:
During 2010, OHCHR-Colombia observed irregular, and in some cases clearly illegal practices in the military recruitment process; these practices should be discontinued as soon as possible. Rapid development of mechanisms to regulate military service, including conscientious objection, with full respect for human rights, is urged.
Members of the Colombian armed forces carry out street round ups, illegally recruiting young men who are not carrying their libreta militar(military service card), a document that proves they have gone through the inscription process. Young men who are walking to school or work might be picked up through a street raid and find themselves, just a few hours later, in a military base beginning training to serve as soldiers. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared in its Opinion No 8/2008: “the practice of batidas or recruitment round-ups, whereby young men who cannot provide proof of their military status are apprehended on the streets or in public places, has no juridical foundation or legal basis.”[2] According to a report issued by the Collective Action for Conscientious Objection (ACOOC), in less than a month’s time between August 21, 2010 and September 12, 2010 they documented over 100 youth who were illegally recruited in Bogota through the practice of street round ups.[3] Additionally, groups have documented round ups in over 10 departments of Colombia and consider it to be a systematic practice carried out by the Colombian army.
Consequently, street roundups are defined as a “deprivation of liberty” and this is a violation of the 9th article of the United NationsInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Moreover, in November 2011, the Constitutional Court in its C-8488/11 ruling reaffirmed the right to object to military service and addressed the practice of street round ups declaring that they contravene Article 28 of the Constitution that protects Colombians from arbitrary detentions. The Court, while reasserting the Colombian state’s right to compel young men to fulfill their military service obligation, determined that “article 41 of Law 48 of 1993 cannot be understood in such a way as granting the military the power to realize indiscriminate street round ups with the aim of identifying ‘remisos’ and after which taking them to a place of confinement, because this practice will be defined as an arbitrary detention, which is prohibited by Article 28 of the Constitution.”[4]
In a recent case, Deivis Gregorio Martínez Castro, died on October 6, 2011, after he suffered a nervous collapse and jumped off the truck which was forcibly transporting him towards the military barracks in the city of Barranquilla.[5] And several of the soldiers killed in Arauca by the FARC during the tragic March 18, 2012 episode were reportedly recruited[6] through illegal street round-ups.
Other young people in Colombia are also victims of illegal and irregular recruitment practices. During routine recruitment appointments in which all young men 18 years of age must present themselves for their obligatory service, the military determines who is apt for service through physical and mental exams. Victims of displacement, students, indigenous people and others are exempt from fulfilling their military service. But in many cases, regardless of documentation presented to prove exemption, and in clear violation of Colombian law, military officials have incorporated the person into the military ranks anyway. For example, according to the Medellín Youth Network, on August 31, 2011, twelve youth were detained by the IV Brigade to fulfill their military service, despite being exempt because they were students.[7]
We are concerned about the forced recruitment of youth carried out by illegal armed groups and we write to you because the army must respect young people’s human rights as a legitimate force of the state. All young people have the internationally recognized right to not take part in military service if it violates their conscience and to not be victims of irregular or illegal recruitment practices. We urge you to immediately take all appropriate measures to:
· Stop the illegal practice of street round ups;
· Educate the armed forces of the rights of Colombian youth and conscientious objectors;
· Ensure that recruitment is carried out according to Colombian law;
· Establish procedures to sanction officials who carry out arbitrary detentions of youth who don't have their military service cards.
The rights, consciences, and lives of young people, especially those who have declared themselves conscientious objectors -- a right now recognized by the Colombian Constitutional Court -- should be respected under all circumstances.
