It was the first public seminar on conscientious objection to be held in this region with international guests. The seminar included different aspects of conscientious objection, including at regional, national and international levels, judicial issues and the problems that social organizations have to face when working with this topic.
The purpose of the seminar was to make local people aware of the subject of conscientious objection and the issues of military recruitment in the region. Although Freedom of Conscience, Religion and Thought is part of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) and was signed by the majority of countries, young people both in Colombia and elsewhere face difficulties if they do not want to do military service on the grounds of their conscience.
The seminar also discussed the issue of “batidas”, which is the military’s process of illegally and violently recruiting young men who do not present themselves at the legal recruitment sessions and cannot present the correct documentation when searched. This practice is common in the country, not least in the Magdalena Medio region, and is considered to be an “arbitrary detention” by the United Nations.
It also examined what criteria the military forces should apply in the next recruitment session, which is expected to take place this July, as well as the role social organizations and other institutions can play in such situations.
Presentations were made by Tom Gerety from the Department of Law at New York University; Derek Brett, who is the director of Conscience and Peace Tax International, and Xavier León from Ecuador, coordinator of CLAOC, who represented Latin America. Also present from War Resisters’ International (WRI) were Pelao Carvallo from Paraguay for the Latin American section and Andreas Speck from the London office.
While Tom Gerety and Derek Brett spoke about the international context, Andreas Speck told the mostly young audience about the work of international, conscientious-objector support networks in countries such as Israel and South Korea. Pelao Carvallo spoke about the anti-militarization work that he has been leading in Chile and Paraguay for many years.
Xavier León told the audience about his experience of being the first publicly declared conscientious objection in Ecuador, and taking his case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. It decided that military authorities should not have the power to decide who is a conscientious objector; instead, this judgement should be made by a civilian.
Juan David Casas of Red Juvenil in Medellín provided the Colombian contribution. He explained the rights held by young Colombians when forcibly recruited by the military and told them about the national network of conscientious objectors, ANOOC.
More than 230 people participated in the seminar. They also had the opportunity to hear about the work on conscientious objection that has been undertaken in Barrancabermeja, in particular by the organization Quinto Mandamiento.
The seminar was part of a three-year project financed by Sida. It followed up a similar seminar that had taken place two days earlier to raise the issue of conscientious objection in the capital city.
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