Colombian conscientious objectors receive Quaker fillip - preview
Say 'Colombia' and most people think of armed conflict, murders and massacres, drugs and organised crime, and general violence However, Colombia is also the scene of a rapidly growing movement of conscientious objectors to military service (COs)
These COs face formidable obstacles Colombia does not recognize conscientious objection It has universal male conscription Without his 'libreta militar' (military card), a young man cannot graduate from university or get a job He is also liable to recruitment at any time, since much of the 'enforcement' of conscription is in practice undertaken by stopping young men on the street, at bus stations etc and asking for their libreta militar Anyone unable to produce this is immediately loaded onto the waiting army truck (with a wire cage on the back) and taken to the barracks for immediate enrolment 'This is not a theoretical concern for young COs,' said Rachel Brett, Quaker UN Office Representative on Human Rights and Refugees 'During my recent trip to Colombia I met one CO in Bogota who had already been rounded up four times!'
Oliver Robertson
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