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Tuesday 6 March 1 pm – 2 pm Support Mexican/American refusenik
Agustín
Aguayo |
REFUSING TO KILL IS NOT A CRIME
US Army Specialist Agustín Aguayo is facing court-martial on the 6th March, and a possible seven-year sentence, in the US base at Würzburg, Germany, for refusing a second deployment to Iraq. Mr Aguayo declared: "It is wrong to destroy life, it is wrong to use war, it is immoral, and I can no longer go down this path." Mr Aguayo faces charges of desertion and missing a troop movement. His application for status as a conscientious objector was denied, and he went absent without leave in September 2006 after being ordered to return to Iraq.
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The Aguayo family has campaigned tirelessly for him: his wife Helga and daughters Rebecca and Raquel have spoken at events across the US, andshared platforms with Carolyn Ho, Lt Ehren Watada’s mother, the first commissioned officer to refuse publicly to go to Iraq. They recently took part in the victory rally atEhren’s court martial, after it was declared a mistrial. Susana, Agustín´s mother, held a press conference in Mexico City and met officials – he has dual citizenship. In reply to her request, the Foreign Relations Secretariat said he would seek information on his health and legal situation. Fernando Suarez del Solar, father of Jesus Suarez, the first US marine killed in Iraq, and founder of the Guerrero Azteca Peace Project, will accompany Agustin’s family to the trial. |
Lt Watada, in his historic speech at the Vets for Peace national convention in August 2006, said: “To stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it....Convince them that no matter how long they sit in prison… their families will have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, opportunities and education.” He and Carolyn Ho (his mother) are urging support for Agustín Aguayo and his family and for Mark Wilkerson, sentenced to 7 months in prison last week).
Agustín has and Mark join the international army of refuseniks which is growing from Israel to Turkey, from Greece to the UK, and is a spearhead of the anti-war movement. So far there will be rallies and fundraisers in Rome, Berlin, Mannheim and Würzburg in support of the Aguayos. In Philadelphia, Payday and the Global Women’s Strike have a support picket on 5 March.
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Donations online:
www.aguayodefense.org
or directly
to: |
Global Women’s Strike and Payday men’s network
Tel 020 7482 2496
womenstrike8m@server101.com
Tel 020 7209 4751
payday@paydaynet.org