Sgt. Ricky Clousing to face Court Martial for Desertion Charge TODAY!
Clousing and attorney to hold press conference at 10am
Supporters to gather at Noon in Fayetteville, N. C.
Darrell Anderson, Iraq veteran and war resister, released from Army
Darrell will receive an "other than honorable" discharge without
facing court martial.
General orders Suzanne Swift to face Special Court Martial
Swift to face charges of "absent without leave" and "missing
movement, could receive up to a year confinement if found guilty
Conscientious Objector, Agustin Aguayo, imprisoned in Germany
Agustin Aguayo is currently being held in Mannheim prison in
Germany for following his conscience
Sgt. Ricky Clousing to face Court Martial for Desertion Charge today Oct. 12
Clousing and attorney to hold press conference at 10am
Supporters to gather at Noon in Fayetteville, N. C.
Ricky Clousing at press conference outside Veterans for Peace conference on August 11, 2006 photo by: Jeff Paterson |
Sgt.
Ricky Clousing, who served as a U.S. Army Interrogator in Iraq in 2004
and 2005 has been charged with desertion by the Army and will face
court martial on Thursday, October 12 at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina.
Prior to the court martial Clousing and his attorney, David Miner, will
hold a press conference at 10am at the Quaker House in Fayetteville, NC
(223 Hillside Ave) and at Noon supporters will rally in downtown
Fayetteville to demonstrate their support for Sgt. Clousing.
Clousing
left Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he was stationed in 2005 after
returning from Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division. He had been AWOL
until August 11th, 2006, when he called a press conference in Seattle, WA coinciding with the annual Veterans for Peace national convention.
At
the press conference, Clousing went public with his stand stating, "In
Iraq I operated as an interrogator and was attached to tactical
infantry units during daily patrol operations. As an interrogator I
spoke to Iraqis each day. This gave me an idea of what local civilians
thought of coalition forces. Throughout my training very appropriate
guidelines for the treatment of prisoners were set. However, I
witnessed our baseless incarceration of civilians. I saw civilians
physically harassed. I saw an innocent Iraqi killed before me by US
troops. I saw the abuse of power that goes without accountability.
Being attached to a tactical infantry unit and being exposed to the
brutalities of war, I began to doubt and reconsider my beliefs.”
Read entire statement...
Later
in the day, he turned himself in to Fort Lewis military police where he
was confined for two days and then ordered to report to Ft. Bragg. If
Clousing is convicted for desertion he faces up to a year confinement
and a bad conduct discharge.
The 82nd
Airborne of the United States Army has opened two parallel
investigations into disclosures made by Sgt. Clousing about the abuse
of power and lack of accountability of the U.S. Military in Iraq, but
has not yet released the findings of this investigation. Clousing will
testify at his court martial about the abuses he witnessed while
serving in Iraq and the defense may call other witnesses.
In
response to charges related to his 14 months absent-without-leave,
Ricky stated: "Since I left the army I have known that being court
martialed was a possibility I could face. I am at peace with my
decision. I followed my conscience and, if need be, I will feel honored
to join the ranks of others who have been prosecuted for doing the
same."
Clousing does not claim to be a
conscientious objector, as is defined by the U.S. military, he is
opposed to the war and occupation of Iraq based on his firsthand
experience in country, which brought him to the conclusion that the
Iraq war is a "war of aggression" that has "no legal basis to be
fought".
Donations are urgently needed for legal fees. Please DONATE today!
For breaking news and for updates about actions you can take to support Sgt. Clousing visit: http://www.sdmcc.org/rickyclousing/
Darrell Anderson, Iraq veteran and war resister, released from Army
Darrell will receive an "other than honorable" discharge without
facing court martial.
Darrell
Anderson hugs mom, Anita Dennis, at press conference shortly before
turning himself in at Ft. Knox. photo by: Bill Luster/Courier-Journal |
"All
my fellow resisters in Canada and the U.S., we have to stay strong and
stand our ground. Because if we keep speaking the truth and stand up
for what's right we will always be free inside." - Darrell Anderson
Shortly
past Noon on Friday, October 6, Iraq war veteran and war resister
Darrell Anderson was released from Ft. Knox after turning himself in to
military custody on October 3. According to his attorney, Jim Fennerty,
Darrell will receive an "other than honorable" discharge without facing
court martial. He expects discharge papers to be mailed to Anderson
within days.
Driven in a car by his mother,
Anita Dennis, Darrell Anderson crossed back into the U.S. from Canada
on September 30, over the Peace Bridge, after holding a press
conference in Ft. Erie, Canada where he told supporters, "I believed it
was my human right to choose not to kill innocent people."
Darrell
Anderson was deployed to Iraq with the Army's 1st Armoured Division in
the spring of 2004. Darrell served most of his time in Baghdad where he
was wounded by a roadside bomb after serving for 7 months. Facing the
possibility of a second deployment to Iraq, Darrell's conscience kept
him from returning to the military. After witnessing the abuse and
killing of Iraqi civilians and being ordered to fire on an automobile
containing Iraqi civilians, Anderson concluded that the war is wrong.
He fled to Canada rather than face the possibility of returning to Iraq.
Before
turning himself in Darrell held a press conference at the Colvin
Community Center in Radcliffe, KY "I feel that by resisting I made up
for the things I did in Iraq," he said. "I feel I made up for the sins
I committed in this war." Shortly after, surrounded by his wife, mother
and step-father, military veterans, and representatives of both
national and local Kentucky peace groups Darrell Anderson turned
himself in to military police at Ft. Knox, KY. In spite of the risk of
prosecution, Anderson decided that he wanted to return to home and
family. View video of press conference...
Anderson
will now be seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress at a facility
in Tennessee. Since being in combat, Anderson said that he has suffered
panic attacks, nightmares, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Send words of support to: resistwithdarrell@insighybb.com
General orders Suzanne Swift to face Special Court Martial
Swift to face charges of "absent without leave" and "missing movement" Could receive up to a year confinement if found guilty
Spc. Suzanne Swift |
Army
Spc. Suzanne Swift to face special court martial for charges "absent
without leave" and "missing movement". Last week Army officials
reported that Lt. Gen. James Dubik, commander of Ft. Lewis, has
referred Swift's case to a special court martial. A special court
martial means that an Article 32, the military's form of a pre-trial,
is not required.
Suzanne's case has
garnered national attention since she was arrested at her mother's home
in June 2006. She had gone AWOL just before her military police unit
was to redeploy to Iraq in January 2006. In her time stationed at Fort
Lewis,Washington and while in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, Swift was sexually
harassed and assaulted by superiors.
The Army has reported investigating the allegations about the sexual abuse and stated last Wednesday in a news release,
"The command substantiated one allegation she made against a soldier at
Fort Lewis and did not substantiate two allegations she made against
soldiers in Iraq."
Swift, who
suffers from PTSD, and her mother, Sara Rich have become vocal
spokespeople against sexual harassment, assault and coerced sex which
is also referred to as "command rape." They and their supporters are
committed to bring the issue to light and to empower more women and men
to speak out against crimes that so often go unreported.
In
support of the Suzanne Swift, last month members of Iraq Veterans
Against the War and Veterans for Peace staged a sit-in at Congressman
Peter DeFazio's D.C. office demanding action on behalf of Suzanne. As a
result, a Congressional investigation is in the works.
Swift is currently serving with a different unit at Fort Lewis, and
could face up to a year confinement in a military prison if found
guilty of the charges, a court date has not yet been set for the court
martial.
Support Suzanne Swift today! Visit: www.SuzanneSwift.org to find out how.
Conscientious Objector, Agustin Aguayo, imprisoned in Germany
Aguayo is currently being held in Mannheim prison in Germany for
following his conscience
Agustin
(center) is escorted through Frankfurt International Airport on October
3, 2006 photo by:Kevin Dougherty / Stars and Stripes |
"I
have come to believe that it is wrong to destroy life, that it is wrong
to use war, that it is immoral, and I can no longer go down this path.
Because I have taken this stand, I am free even though my body will
probably be locked up for a period of time and it's something I can
live with. Something I can't live with is being a participant of war
anymore." -Agustin Aguayo
Agustin
Aguayo arrived in Germany on Tuesday October 3, 2006 hand-cuffed and
escorted by several soldiers as he made his way through Frankfurt
International Airport. Aguayo was sent back to Germany on a commercial
flight less than a week after turning himself in to military custody at
Ft. Irwin just outside of Barstow, CA in the Mojave Desert.
Agustin
Aguayo applied for conscientious objector status in February 2004 after
serving in the military for just over a year."At the moment I signed
up, I was ready and willing to do anything that was asked of me,"
Aguayo said. "However, over time, we as humans change. While Aguayo's
conscientious objector claim was being processed he was sent to Iraq as
a medic, but refused to load his weapon. He has continued to fight for
his discharge ever since, even taking his fight to the federal court
system after his claim was mishandled and rejected by the military.
Narrowly
escaping a forced deployment to Iraq through a bedroom window at his
base apartment at the Schweinfurt, Germany U.S. Army base, Agustin
Aguayo went AWOL on September 2nd after his unit was ordered to deploy
to Iraq for a second time. Standing in front of Mission Los Angeles, on
September 26th, Agustin told supporters and the media about his
decision to go AWOL and his plans to turn himself in to Ft. Irwin Army
base, later that day, to continue his fight for a conscientious
objector discharge. Photos and report...
On the scene at Frankfurt International Airport, Stars and Stripes reported,
"Aguayo was taken from the Frankfurt airport to the U.S. Army
Confinement Facility-Europe in Mannheim, Germany, where he will be in
pretrial confinement while Army officials review the evidence to
determine the status of his case, according to 1st Armored Division
spokesman Maj. Wayne Marotto."
Agustin
Aguayo is imprisoned for following his conscience and he and his family
desperately need your financial support as they continue to fight for
his discharge. Please donate today!
For additional information about Agustin's case visit: www.AguayoDefense.org
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