JORNADA PABLO PAREDES BURGOS, PRIMER OBJETOR POR CONSCIENCIA DE LA GUERRA DE IRAK
Madres Contra la Guerra, la Coalición Ciudadana Contra el Militarismo, la Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Constitucionales del Colegio de Abogados, y Amnistía Internacional presentan la Jornada Pablo Paredes Burgos, primer objetor por consciencia boricua de la guerra de Irak, del 18 al 25 de abril de 2006. Hasta ahora las actividades programadas son:
miércoles 19 de abril
11:00 a.m. - Conferencia de prensa sobre la visita de Pablo Paredes Burgos y las actividades de la Jornada, salón Alma Delgado del Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico
5:00 p.m. - Foro sobre la guerra de Irak y la objeción por conciencia con la participación de Pablo Paredes Burgos coauspiciadao por la Cátedra UNESCO de Educación para la Paz de la UPR, Anfiteatro Núm. 3 de la Facultad de Estudios Generales del Recinto de Río Piedras de la Universidad de Puerto Rico
jueves 20 de abril - Actividades en Ponce (Inter, UPR, WPAB), horario por confirmar.
viernes 21 de abril
12:00 del mediodía - Piquete de Madres Contra la Guerra con la participación de Pablo Paredes Burgos frente al Centro de Reclutamiento del Ejército en la Avenida Roosevelt en Hato Rey.
7:00 p.m. - Conferencia de Pablo Paredes Burgos en el Salón Felix Ochoteco del Colegio de Abogados seguido de acto cultural con el cantautor Rafael Martínez y con la animación de Carola García.
domingo 23 de abril
10:00 a.m. - Visita de Pablo Paredes Burgos a Vieques y participación de Pablo Paredes Burgos en el Programa radial de Vieques del Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Se están haciendo los arreglos para que Pablo también visite a Mayagüez durante el periodo de la Jornada, posiblemente para un conversatorio el lunes 24 de abril.
Breve reseña biográfica:
El Marino de Guerra Puertorriqueño Pablo Paredes Burgos nació y se crió en el Bronx en Nueva York donde estudió en escuelas católicas y fue monaguillo. Después de graduarse de la escuela superior se unió a la Marina de Guerra de Estados Unidos en el año 2000. Su padre había sufrido un accidente automovilístico el cual dejó a su familia en una precaria situación financiera.
Siendo el hijo mayor y queriendo proseguir sus estudios, Pablo decide enlistarse en la marina de guerra. Indica Pablo : “ ni en un millón de años imaginé yo que iba a enfrentar una situación de guerra”. Sus experiencias de adiestramiento en Japón le llevaron a reflexionar sobre sus creencias acerca de las guerras , su rol en la marina y su sentido personal de responsabilidad social. Se le convocó a reportarse el 6 de diciembre de 2004 al barco de Guerra USS Bon Homme, con rumbo a Irak . Con cría y valentía, exponiendo las razones morales, éticas y religiosas que sentía, Pablo decide ese 6 de diciembre llamar a una rueda de prensa para denunciar su oposición a las guerras en general y a la guerra de Irak en particular. Entre otras razones, expresa que no quiere ser cómplice de la muerte y destrucción al transportar a sus compañeros marinos a la guerra y en la destrucción y genocidio al pueblo iraquí. Esperó en vano por unas dos horas un arresto . Siguiendo las recomendaciones de sus abogados, Pablo solicitó el estatus de objetor por consciencia el 4 de enero del 2005 el cual fue denegado y está en proceso de apelación. Por el cargo de haberse negado a embarcarse hacia el Golfo Pérsico (Artículos 86 - 87 del Uniform Code of Military Justice), fue sentenciado a tres meses de trabajo forzoso dentro de la base en San Diego. Nos informa Pablo que hasta sus compañeros y oficiales de unidad le han felicitado.
En mayo del 2005, Pablo Paredes formalmente solicitó un reclamo judicial de “no culpabilidad” a los cargos de no haberse embarcado en el USS Bonhomme el 6 de diciembre del 2004. En sus palabras: “ yo fui entrenado para reconocer mi responsabilidad personal en la participación en crímenes de guerra. Dado que esta guerra es ilegal y ha sido caracterizada por violaciones consistentes a leyes y tratados internacionales de la convención de Ginebra y a los estándares generalmente aceptados de derechos humanos, yo creo que mi adiestramiento justificaba el que yo evitara participar en estos crímenes”.
Latino Moritorium March - Pablo Paredes
"Like a cabinet member, I resign"
Paredes Statement during Sentencing:
Your Honor, and to all present, I'd like to state first and foremost that it has never been my intent or motivation to create a mockery of the Navy or its judicial system. I do not consider military members adversaries. I consider myself in solidarity with all service members. It is this feeling of solidarity that was at the root of my actions. I don't pretend to be in a position to lecture anyone on what I perceive as facts concerning our current political state of affairs. I accept that it is very possible that my political perspective on this war could be wrong. I don't think that rational people can even engage in debate if neither is willing to accept the possibility that their assertions, no matter how researched, can be tainted with inaccuracy and falsehoods. I do believe that accepting this in no way takes away from one's confidence in their own convictions.
I am convinced that the current war in Iraq is illegal. I am also convinced that the true causality for it lacked any high ground in the topography of morality. I believe as a member of the Armed Forces, beyond having duty to my Chain of Command and my President, I have a higher duty to my conscience and to the supreme law of the land. Both of these higher duties dictate that I must not participate in any way, hands-on or indirect, in the current aggression that has been unleashed on Iraq. In the past few months I have been continually asked if I regret my decision to refuse to board my ship and to do so publicly. I have spent hour upon hour reflecting on my decision, and I can tell you with every fiber of certitude that I possess that I feel in my heart I did the right thing.
This does not mean I have no regrets. I regret dearly exposing the families of marines and sailors to my protest. While I do not feel my message was wrong, I know that those families were facing a difficult moment. This moment was made in some ways more difficult by my actions, and this pains me. That day on the pier, I restrained myself from answering the calls of coward and even some harsher variations of the same term. I did so because I knew this wasn't the time to engage these families in debate. I thought that I became in many ways a forum in which to vent their fears and sadness. And I didn't want to turn that into a combative situation in which the families were distracted more by our debate than simply empowered by their ability to chastise my actions. All that being said I still feel my actions made some people very unhappy and made others feel that I was taking away from their child's or their husband's goodbye, and I regret this.
I also regret the pain and stress I have caused those near and dear to me. I know that my lawyers feel that it is ill advised of me to say these things, and I am aware of that. My lawyers have had a very difficult time with me. They also thought that it was ill advised me for me to plead not guilty. It is this I truly want to explain, both to them and to the court. I realize I did not board the Bonhomme Richard on December 6 and that I left after the ship personnel and Pier Master-at-Arms refused to arrest me. Given these confessions one may find it hard to understand why would anyone admit to the action but not plead guilty to the crime. It is this question that has also been the topic of much reflection for me.
I never deny my actions nor do I run from their consequences. But pleading guilty is more than admission of action. It is also acceptance that that action was wrong and illegal. These are two things I do not and cannot accept. I feel, even with all the regrets and difficulties that have come as a result of my actions, that they were in fact my duty as a human being and as a service member. I feel in my mind and heart that this war is illegal and immoral. The moral argument is one that courts have little room for and has been articulated in my C.O. application. It is an argument that encompasses all wars as intolerable in my system of morals. The legal argument is quite relevant, although motions filed and approved have discriminated against it to the point it was not allowed into this trial.
I have long now been an ardent reader of independent media, and, in my opinion, less corrupted forms of media, such as TruthOut.org, Democracy Now!, books from folks like Steven Zunes, and Chalmers Johnson, articles from people like Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein. These folks are very educated in matters of politics and are not on the payroll of any major corporate news programming, such as CNN or FOX News network. They all do what they do for reasons other than money, as they could earn much more if they joined the corporate-controlled ranks. I have come to trust their research and value their convictions in assisting me to form my own. They have all unanimously condemned this war as illegal, as well as made resources available for me to draw my own conclusions, resources like Kofi Annan's statements on how under the U.N. Charter the Iraq War is illegal, resources like Marjorie Cohn's countless articles providing numerous sources and reasons why the war is illegal under international, as well as domestic law. I could speak on countless sources and their arguments as to the legality of the war on Iraq quite extensively. But again, I don't presume to be in a position to lecture anyone here on law. I mean only to provide insight on my actions on December 6.
I understood before that date very well what the precedent was for service members participating in illegal wars. I read extensively on the arguments and results of Nazi German soldiers, as well as imperial Japanese soldiers, in the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials, respectively. In all I read I came to an overwhelming conclusion supported by countless examples that any soldier who knowingly participates in an illegal war can find no haven in the fact that they were following orders, in the eyes of international law.
Nazi aggression and imperialist Japan are very charged moments of history and simply mentioning them evokes many emotions and reminds of many atrocities. So I want to be very clear that I am in no way comparing our current government to any of the historical counterparts. I am not comparing the leaders or their acts, not their militaries nor their acts. I am only citing the trials because they are the best example of judicial precedent for what a soldier/sailor is expected to do when faced with the decision to participate or refuse to participate in what he perceives is an illegal war.
I think we would all agree that a service member must not participate in random unprovoked illegitimate violence simply because he is ordered to. What I submit to you and the court is that I am convinced that the current war is exactly that. So, if there's anything I could be guilty of, it is my beliefs. I am guilty of believing this war is illegal. I'm guilty of believing war in all forms is immoral and useless, and I am guilty of believing that as a service member I have a duty to refuse to participate in this war because it is illegal.
I do not expect the court to rule on the legality of this war, nor do I expect the court to agree with me. I only wish to express my reasons and convictions surrounding my actions. I acted on my conscience. Whether right or wrong in my convictions I will be at peace knowing I followed my conscience.
HISPANIC NAVY SAILOR REFUSES TO DEPLOY IN PROTEST - A BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Pablo grew up in the Bronx, New York where he attended Catholic schools and became an altar boy in his local parish. After graduating from All Hallows High School in 1999 and he briefly attended College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York.
Pablo Paredes joined the US Navy in 2000. he was a young man with enthusiasm for life and a desire to experience the world; thus joining the Navy seemed to be a positive move. A search for direction, the rising costs of education and his personal financial challenges led him to finalize his decision to enlist. When asked if he ever considered that he might be called upon to participate in war, Pablo says "never in a million years did I imagine we would go to war with somebody who had done nothing to us."
After finishing Navy boot camp, Pablo was trained as a Fire Controlman, assigned to operation of the Sparrow missile system. After two years in the Navy, Pablo was assigned to a ship homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, the USS O’Brien. His experiences in Japan sparked a process that led to profound changes in his beliefs about war, his role in the Navy, and his own sense of personal responsibility and accountability.
In late summer, 2004, the USS O’Brien was decommissioned. Pablo returned with it to the U.S. After a brief experiment with Master-at-Arms training, he returned to San Diego to await orders for his next assignment. In November, he was notified that the vessel he had been assigned to, the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious ship that was part of Expeditionary Strike Group 5, scheduled to transport marines to Iraq, departing December 6, 2005.
On December 6, Pablo arrived at the pier at Naval Station San Diego but did not board the Bon Homme Richard. Instead, he announced his opposition to war in general, to the Iraq war in particular, and to being a party to death and destruction by transporting Marines to the war. Fully expecting to be taken into custody, Pablo was surprised by the inaction of Navy authorities at the pier. After being told by the Command Duty Officer to “get out of here,” Pablo left the base. He returned on December 18, 2004, and was assigned to the Navy Region Southwest Transient Personnel Unit (TPU).
After making contact with the San Diego Military Counseling Project, Pablo learned that he qualified for discharge as a conscientious objector to war under Department of Defense and Navy regulations. On January 4, 2005, he submitted a request for such a discharge.
However, before his request was forwarded to the Naval Personnel Command NAVPERSCOM) for final determination, he was notified that he had been formally charged with being absent without authority and missing movement by design (Articles 86 and 87 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), and that the charges had been referred to a Special Court-Martial.
Pablo’s civilian attorney, Jeremy Warren, discussed the charges with the Navy prosecutor and submitted a formal request on Pablo’s behalf for discharge in lieu of court martial. Such a discharge would be characterized as “other than honorable.” (Pablo made this request even though a conscientious objector discharge would have a higher characterization because the charges of UCMJ violations would delay disposition of his conscientious objector claim for an indeterminate period.) The request was accepted by the prosecutor who forwarded it to Pablo’s command with a recommendation that it be approved. Instead, Pablo’s command rejected the request, preferring the more punitive approach of the court martial.
On May 4, 2005, Pablo Paredes formally entered a plea of “not guilty” to charges of unauthorized absence and missing movement stemming from his refusal to board the Iraq-bound ship USS Bonhomme Richard on December 6, 2004.
In explaining the rationale for his not guilty plea, Pablo Paredes said: “Like all members of the military, I have been trained to recognize my personal responsibility for participating in war crimes. Since the war is itself illegal and has been characterized by repeated and consistent violations of international laws and treaties, of the Geneva Convention rules of war, and of generally accepted standards of human rights, I have a reasonable belief that my training required me to avoid participating in these crimes.”
Paredes was convicted of the missing Ships movement charge and sentenced to two months restriction, three months hard labor without confinement, and reduction in rank to E-1. The UA charge was dismissed because it was found to be duplicative.
Pablo CO has been denied and he has recieved an administrative Discharge under honorable conditions. Pablo is currently fighting for his CO recognition in the Federal Court System
posted by CCCM at 7:19 a. m.
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