Visiting Schools and Academic Institutions
An essential part of ACCOC’s tour in Gothenburg was the informative work concerning conscientious objection and the current situation regarding the matter in Colombia. During their stay in Sweden, Alejandro and Marisol visited the University of Gothenburg where different meetings with scholars and lecturers were carried out in order to establish connections on an institutional level and to gain political support for the right to conscientiously object to military service in Colombia. Among them the Centre for Global Gender Studies and Resistance Studies, the later one, with the purpose to talk to the director about how social movements can combine non-violence struggle and advocacy work with judicial argumentation in order to change national legislation and gain the recognition for human rights.
During a visit to Uppsala they also paid a visit to the Faculty of Law to meet with Ian Cameron, professor in Constitutional Law, a meeting which was very helpful and generated an interesting discussion and new contacts within the European Union as well as to NGOs and institutions specialized in International Law and Human Right.
The two representatives from ACCOC also paid an educational visit to a class of approximately 30 students studying International Relations at School of Global Studies in Gothenburg. A presentation was held in class where they lectured about the context of the Colombian conflict as well as argued for and discussed their methods to create a peace culture in their country. The students were also given the opportunity to demonstrate their political support for the campaign and for the right of conscientious objection in Colombia by signing a symbolic document in class.
Similar visits were also made by ACOOC to various high schools around the Gothenburg area. Alejandro and Marisol engaged young students on the topic of conscientious objection by giving presentations in classes and seminars which incorporated workshops and interactive discussions at several high schools such as Sigrid Rudebeck and Ingrid Segerstedt as well as the secondary school in Kinna. The interest and response was very positive from many of the students and the meetings at both schools contributed to a fruitful exchange of ideas relevant to ACOOC’s future work both locally as well as for the collaborative work on an international level. As the participating students were younger, they were given the opportunity to support the work of ACOOC and the campaign by signing a specific document that demonstrated solely a moral support for the conscientious objectors in Colombia.
Seminars in Stockholm and Gothenburg
Marisol Sanchez and Alejandro Parra also visited Stockholm and Gothenburg together with Civis staff to give seminars and to meet with Swedish organizations and institutions. In Stockholm, the seminar Conscientious Objection as a legal and legitimate right in Colombia: the story of the young civil society’s peace project was held at Sensus Study Association.
Relating to its title, the seminar focused on the legal aspects of conscientious objection in Colombia. After the seminar, Catalina Uribe, human rights lawyer from Colombia, gave her reflections from a legal point of you and compared the Colombian case with other international cases where conscientious objection has become part of national legislation. Several Swedish NGOs participated in the seminar such as SweFOR, Forum Syd, IDEA, members of the Colombia Group and academics.
In Gothenburg the seminar was held at Gothenburg University in collaboration with The Society of International Affairs (Utrikespolitiska Föreningen) on the ideological reasons behind the decision to become a conscientious objector. About 50 people participated in the seminar and learned about the Colombian conflict, the situation for youth especially, the irregularities and illegalities in the process of recruitment for compulsory military service that still occur frequently on a daily basis in Colombia.
Meetings with Swedish Organizations and Media
As the campaign’s focus was to create awareness regarding the right to conscientious objection as well as to gain political support on different levels in Sweden it was of importance to meet with different type of actors during the tour. ACOOC therefore made a study visit to the office of the Swedish Red Cross in Gothenburg as a part of their informative work. The aim of the visit was to exchange knowledge on how to work with human rights using different methods depending on context. ACOOC met with a representative from the Red Cross who gave an introduction to the work made by the Red Cross in Sweden focusing on the different integration activities conducted by the organization in the Gothenburg area.
As a second part of the study visit ACOOC went to Biskopsgården to take part in one of these integration activities. Alejo and Marisol met with volunteers from the Red Cross whom on a weekly basis organize and provide tutoring and support to children that need help with their homework. The purpose of the visit was to exchange ideas on the topic of different ways to organize supporting activities for children and teenagers.
In Stockholm ACOOC and Civis met with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) to inform them on the judicial process in Colombia that began in 2008 to have the Constitutional Court to recognize conscientious objection to military service as a fundamental right. After the courts verdict in favour of the objectors last year, another part of the journey has begun and the objectors now await the law that will regulate this right. There are several proposals for the new law, and some of them are not supported by the conscientious objectors themselves and according to the International Commission of Jurists, they even break International Law standards.
The meeting focused on ways in which the Commission could support ACOOC and Civis with contacts and information to gain more knowledge about other international experiences similar to the one in Colombia. ACOOC and Civis also paid a visit to Save the Children in Sundbyberg where we exchanged experiences and discussed forced recruitment of youth and minors in Colombia as Save the Children Sweden will begin to focus more on the prevention of recruitment of child soldiers.
During their stay in Gothenburg, Marisol and Alejandro were invited twice to Radio 19 Abril in Hammarkullen to be part of the weekly program “Youth for Youth” (Jóvenes para Jóvenes) where they were interviewed. Hammarkullen is one of the suburbs of Gothenburg and more than half of its population was born abroad. Only in the radio station there were people from Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
The first program was an introduction to conscientious objection, what it means and why it is important to raise awareness about it in Europe, and because of the reporter’s Mexican background, many comparisons were made between the situation for youngsters in Mexico and Colombia – two countries with a high level of violence affecting young people especially.
The second program was more in depth and included both the philosophical as well as the political reasons on why you become a conscientious objector. After the program ACOOC and Civis enjoyed the warm atmosphere at the small radio station, eating Chilean empanadas and socializing with all the people working there! Another media contact was made in Stockholm were Marisol and Alejandro were part of an Indymedia TV-program and their interview will be published online.
Photo Exhibition about Colombia: Human Rights Defenders in Chocó and Meta Regions
In collaboration with the Gothenburg City Library and photographer Matts Olsson, Civis organized a photo exhibition that portrayed the active work for peace culture in Colombia. The displayed photographs were from the two regions Chocó and Meta and were taken by Matts Olsson, former peace observer in Colombia and by teenagers from a project that was carried out with the help of funding from Civis.
The opening of the exhibition was open to the public and approximately 70 people came to watch the displayed photographs, to mingle and to listen to representatives from Civis and Matts Olsson who shared their experiences from Colombia. With us this evening were also Alejandro Parra and Marisol Sanchez from ACOOC in Bogotá who gave a shorter presentation and answered questions from the audience about their work in Colombia.
Experiencing Sweden!
Civis and ACOOC spent one sunny weekend on the island of Donsö, in the southern archipelago outside of Gothenburg, enjoying the beauty of the coastal village and getting to know each other. It was a precious opportunity to engage in deep discussions about peace culture while listening to the objectors’ personal stories, taking long walks on the beach, as well as planning future projects and strategies for our work together.
ACOOC’s stay in Gothenburg ended with a long farewell party, celebrating new friendships and the many important accomplishments generated by the campaign in Sweden.
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