rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (06/26/91)
/** military.draft: 84.0 **/ ** Topic: German Greens support resisters ** ** Written 9:09 pm Jun 19, 1991 by cscheiner in cdp:military.draft ** From gn!gruen-bv.zer!j.maier Wed Jun 19 02:56:43 1991 Return-Path: <gn!gruen-bv.zer!j.maier> Organization: Mailbox GRUEN-BV im Zerberus-Netz Date: 17 Jun 91 14:29:00 MET Subject: German Green Party resolution supports C.O.'s HANDS OFF ERIC, KEVIN AND ALL GULF WAR OBJECTORS ! THE TRUE HEROS OF THE GULF WAR NEED OUR SOLIDARITY AND INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT ! This weekend official America is celebrating in Washington and New York itself and the heros of the quick victory in the Gulf by the biggest military parade since World War 2 - a superpatriotic confetti show without losing a minute commemorating the consequences, destruction, environmental disasters and more than 150,000 casualties of the enemy. The war objectors within the U.S. army are confronted with most severe punishment, even the death penalty, and their political supporters and friends in the U.S. and Europe (particularly here in Germany) are confronted with a massive wave of criminalization. The uncompromising opposition to the war inside and outside the armies is facing an attempt to be silenced. It is the same merciless brutality that has bombed Iraq and Kuwait back to a pre-industrial age, at the expense of particularly the civilian population, and that has savagely attacked the defeated and retreating Iraqi army that now tries to suppress the anti-war movement when it becomes even more obvious how pointless this war was, and when it becomes more obvious that military interventionism and the preparation of new regional wars for Bush's new world order are continuing. * We are informed by relatives of soldiers that the punishment of Gulf war objectors is continuing unabatedly in the United States. * While soldiers with similar offenses such as the objectors get only 30 to 60 days in jail and then are released, declared conscientious objectors are facing up to two and a half years imprisonment and dishonorable discharge. * In many cases the procedures are prolonged almost endlessly, hearings are fixed and postponed in the last minute, though this is an unacceptable financial and mental burden for the families that have to come from all over the United States. * Particularly the Marine Corps demonstrates once again senseless severity: while other parts of the armed forces mostly discharge their objectors rather quickly the Marines have not yet finished a single objection procedure. During this time the objectors are subject to endless mental and partly physical mistreatment and humiliations that have already caused a nervous collapse with three men. * Until now 12 names of sentenced U.S. war objectors have become public, with sentences between 8 and 18 months. * Trials against 9 further objectors have begun May 20, with sentences of up to 8 years pending (!). * In Germany hundreds of peace movement and Green Party activists are persecuted with indictments for the soldier leaflet that had addressed German soldiers and GI's stationed in Germany not to serve superpower and oil interests in the Gulf and to refuse to serve in the war. * Members of the Green Party's federal executive committee in Bonn were sentenced in the first instance to high fines, further trials for the soldier leaflet are following this month. SOLIDARITY NOW - HANDS OFF ERIC, KEVIN AND THE U.S. DESERTERS ! A few people are being punished and made an example for us all. We have to prevent that. Eric Larsen, ex-Marine and U.S. Gulf war objector is jailed since late March in Camp Lejeune (N.Carolina) military prison. Many of us know him for his passionate speech at the anti-war rally in Bonn November 1990. Eric has condemned in unequivocal terms a military intervention since the Gulf crisis began. In the United States he is probably the most popular and most articulate war objector. According to his lawyers the military prosecutor in San Francisco charges him with desertion in war, with an explicit reference to article 65 of the U.S. military criminal code. Because of the gravity of the offenses by Eric Larson this means that he faces the maximum penalty: death. Furthermore Kevin Sparrock faces the death penalty. Eric Larsen has applied for conscientious objector status before the war started, but this application was not accepted because it was politically motivated. The first hearing in a military court resulted in an unexpected success - the judges criticized the uncorrect treatment of Eric's application. Then a new hearing was fixed for June, however, leaving the penalty completely open. We have to fear that an example will be made of Eric. The threat of death penalty still has not been removed. The Green Party in Germany declare at their federal party convention in Cologne their unrestricted solidarity with all U.S. soldiers and all other armies participating in the Gulf war who have tried to refuse to participate in this madness. We particularly support Eric, Kevin and the other GI's who face the threat of the death penalty or longtime imprisonment in military jails. We demand the immediate release of Eric, Kevin and all other objectors ! We demand the immediate termination of all legal procedures against activists of the peace movement and our party resulting from the call upon soldiers not to participate in the Gulf war ! We intend to take the initiative to a joint international campaign by the peace movement, the Greens and all other progressive movements to free Eric, Kevin and the other jailed U.S. soldiers ! (Resolution unanimously adopted by the federal party convention of the German Green Party, Cologne, June 9, 1991). ** End of text from cdp:military.draft **