A
story on Yahoo News caught my attention as it said war resisters, welcomed
during the Vietnam era, are treated differently as no U.S. troop member from the
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars seeking legal residency in Canada, either as a
refugee or on humanitarian grounds, has been successful.
Army officials
said more than 20,000 soldiers have deserted since 2006 – since the first
President Bush’s war. Some deserters face court-martial but the majority are
discharged on less-than-honorable terms.
Canadian government
guidance issued to immigration officers in 2010 requires them to consult
supervisors on U.S. military cases and spells out desertion is a crime that may
render those who've left the military as criminally inadmissible to Canada.
“Before the Civil
War, Canada was at the top of the Underground Railroad, said Author Margaret
Atwood. “If you made it into Canada, you were safe unless someone came and
hauled you back. This was also true during the Vietnam War for draft resisters.”
War Resisters
International shares the following concerns about the practices of the
all-voluntary force in America. I know just about everyone I served with joined
because, like me, I didn’t have the money or grades for college
The procedure for recognizing conscientious objectors of
the present all-volunteer military is solely in the hands of the military, and
therefore is not independent and impartial, as required by Commission on Human
Rights resolution 1998/77;
In practice, conscientious objectors who are denied the
right to conscientious objection and who refuse orders to deploy are sentenced
to prison;
The denial of educational benefits and other forms of
discrimination against those who fail to register for a potential draft under
the Military Selective Service Act is a violation of the right the education,
and also amounts to punishment without trial;
The military has access to private data of high school
students for recruitment purposes, which is a violation of the right to
privacy;
Counter-recruitment activists face intimidation and
arrest from police, military, and university authorities, which amounts to a
violation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and;
The military's "stop loss" orders to extend the
length of military employment contracts without the consent of the soldier are
a violation of the Forced Labor Convention.
Because our Armed Forces are voluntary, a lot of the
rules for protection under the Uniform Code of Military Justice just don’t
apply. Another Catch-22 for new
recruits! Someone should tell them.
