Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia Castillo is a prisoner of conscience

A statement of Amnesty International

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engamr510942004

On 21 May 2004, a US military court sentenced Staff
Sergeant Camilo Mejia Castillo of the Florida National
Guard to the maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment
for desertion. He had refused to return to his unit in
Iraq, citing moral reasons, the legality of the war and
the conduct of US troops towards Iraqi civilians and
prisoners. Amnesty International considers him to be a
prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for his conscientious
opposition to participating in war.

The sentence was imposed despite a pending decision by
the army on his application for conscientious objector
status. During the trial his lawyers were not permitted
to present arguments relating to his conscientious
objection, including describing the abuse he witnessed.
He is currently detained in a military prison at Fort
Sill, Oklahoma. The sentence is under appeal, but the
appeal process is expected to be lengthy.

Camilo Mejia was deployed to Iraq in April 2003. He
began developing doubts about the morality and legality
of the war. In October 2003 he returned home for two
weeks leave. He failed to return to duty in Iraq and
filed for discharge as a conscientious objector on 16
March 2004 stating that he believed the war and
occupation of Iraq to be "illegal and immoral".

In his conscientious objector application, Camilo Mejia
described the conditions of detention and treatment of
Iraqi prisoners, including instances where soldiers were
directed to "break the detainees’ resolve", and who took
actions which included banging on metal walls with
sledgehammers to enforce sleep deprivation, and loading
pistols near the ears of prisoners. He also described
witnessing the killing of civilians, including children.

Camilo Mejia has described the evolution of his beliefs,
what he witnessed and did in Iraq, all of which
compelled him to take a stand on the basis of
conscience. His objections to such abuse were made
before the publication of photographs of US agents
physically and mentally torturing and abusing Iraqi
detainees in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, but his trial
came at a time of heightened media attention on this
issue. A member of his defense team, former Attorney
General Ramsey Clark, spoke of the "incredible irony
that we’re prosecuting soldiers in Iraq for violations
of international law and we’re prosecuting a soldier
here because he refused to do the same things".

Amnesty International has adopted Camilo Mejia as a
prisoner of conscience and calls for his immediate and
unconditional release. He is the first US soldier known
to be tried for "desertion" after service in combat in
the current Iraq conflict. Amnesty International
believes he has been imprisoned for his conscientious
objection to the war in Iraq despite having taken
reasonable steps to secure his discharge from the army.

Prior to his conviction, Camilo Mejia said "I have no
regrets, not one... I will take it because I go there
with my honor, knowing I have done the right thing".

Background
Amnesty International (AI) considers a conscientious
objector to be any person who, for reasons of conscience
or profound conviction, refuses to perform service in
the armed forces or any other direct or indirect
participation in wars or armed conflicts. This can
include volunteer soldiers who have developed a
conscientious objection after joining the armed forces.
Wherever such a person is detained or imprisoned solely
because they have been denied or refused their right to
register an objection or to perform a genuinely civilian
alternative service, Amnesty International considers
that person to be a prisoner of conscience.

AI also considers conscientious objectors to be
prisoners of conscience if they are imprisoned as a
consequence of leaving the armed forces without
authorization for reasons of conscience, if because of
those reasons, they have taken reasonable steps to
secure release from military obligations.

It is evident from the statement Camilo Mejia has made
in his application for conscientious objector status
that he is a genuine conscientious objector whose
objection to war evolved in response to witnessing human
rights violations in Iraq. He sought discharge as a non-
US citizen with more than eight years service with the
US army on the basis of such objection, and subsequently
applied for conscientious objector status. Accordingly,
AI believes that he should not have been tried and
imprisoned for "desertion" and should be released
immediately and unconditionally.

Since April 2004, photographs of US agents mentally and
physically torturing and abusing Iraqi detainees in Iraq
have been published around the world. One US soldier has
appeared before a military court in Baghdad and received
the maximum sentence of one year’s imprisonment, after
admitting his involvement in torturing Iraqi detainees.
Several others are awaiting trial.

AI has documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of
detainees in Iraq and raised its concerns with the
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) as well as the US
and UK governments. Detainees were forced to lie face
down on the ground, handcuffed, hooded or blindfolded
during arrest. During interrogation they were reportedly
repeatedly beaten and restrained for prolonged periods
in painful positions, while some were also subjected to
sleep deprivation, prolonged forced standing, and
exposed to loud music and bright lights to disorient
them. Some died in custody allegedly as a result of
torture.