May 15 is International Conscientious Objectors (CO) Day!

In 1969 I was 20 years old and living in the southern U.S. Although born in Canada I was eligible for the draft as a "resident alien"' (foreign national). I had applied for CO status to avoid serving in the unjust Vietnam War (the American War as the Vietnamese refer to it). I had organized a group  on my campus at Miami Dade Community College, The Student Action Committee (SAC, like Strategic Air Command).  I'd also been publishing a mimeographed anti-war paper titled "Papers" at the Miami Friends (Quakers) Centre. In June I received 3 draft notices in a week, and ended up living on the streets in squats in the UK for the next 3 years. My memoir about this was published in 1990 with Unfinished Monument Press and republished in a slicker edition in 2012 by Hidden Brook Press as Eel Pie Island Dharma.      

 Dear Friend of Conscience,  

May 15 is International Conscientious Objectors (CO) Day!

The Center on Conscience and War (CCW) invites you to join us in celebrating and honoring COs with a week of actions you can take to protect the right to conscientious objection for *all* COs - wherever they are.

Today, if you haven't already, please sign and share this letter to President Biden, asking his administration to end any further deportations of Russian COs.
 

After promising last year not to deport anyone seeking asylum from the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration suddenly deported a Russian CO earlier this spring, in what appears to be an incorrect or biased interpretation of US asylum policy regarding draft resistance.

Rejecting asylum claims based on draft resistance upholds the legitimacy of the draft, while undermining rights of conscience. As people working for an end to war and the right to freedom of religion and belief, we are called to protect the right to conscientious objection under US law. Without an active draft in the US, the Russian asylum seekers are bearing that burden for us right now. We are called to stand with them.

More actions you can take during this CO day/week of action:
 

1.After you sign the petition, you can call the White House (202-456-1111) and let them know you are concerned that deporting conscientious objectors seeking asylum in the US sets a bad precedent for all people of conscience.
2.Reach out to your member of Congress to alert them about your concerns and ask them to exercise their oversight and investigative authority to find out why COs are facing detention and deportation when they seek asylum in the US.
3.If you are in the northeast US, you can join War Resisters League and St. Francis Catholic Worker House on Wednesday, May 17, from 9:00-10:30 am at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT, outside the gates at McKinley Park, corner of Mohegan Avenue and Williams Street. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will be speaking, as we deliver the message, End the inhumane border conditions, new restrictions and fast deportations.  Welcome Asylum Seekers!
4.Share the petition and letter with your friends and networks.  
 

Thank you for all you do to support conscientious objectors to war!




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