Translation of statement from the Medellí­n Youth Network
April 2007

The recruitment procedures that the national army uses are despicable, especially in our particular experiences in different parts of Antioquia state. There the pursuit and recruitment of youth has become a daily occurrence of intimidation and verbal and sometimes even physical violence, which ends with the placement of these youth onto a path to becoming killers.

As evidence of the cruel recruitment situation in our areas, we describe a case that occurred in the municipality of Cisneros, Antioquia:

The Colombian Conscientious Objectors' movement
by Janice Gallagher
May 2007

Carlos Andres Hincapie, 18, had gone out to the store to buy eggs for his family's breakfast when he ran into the military. They asked for his military identification card, certifying he had completed his military service. He told them he didn't have one, and didn't agree with military service. Carlos was immediately loaded onto the back of a military truck and taken to the military barracks. He could not call his parents, and the next day was whisked off for "training" several hours away. Within two weeks, he was engaged in active duty military service. He signed a statement two months later certifying that he was a Conscientious Objector, and in return received harsh physical treatment at the hands of the military.

The Medellín Youth Network (Red Juvenil) organized the International Gathering of Solidarity with Conscientious Objection in Colombia on July 18-19 in Bogotá. The Red points out that even though the Colombian Constitution guarantees that “no one will be obliged to act against their conscience,” the same Constitution requires Colombians to take up arms when public needs demand it.

The Red Juvenil has also promoted conscientious objection to military taxes, with an analysis of the country’s huge investment in war machinery. In the weeks leading up to the international gathering, the Red published the personal statements of several Colombian conscientious objectors. Here is one of them. (Click here to read in Spanish)

Arbitrary Recruitment by Army Continues in Medellín…
And young men keep carrying guns… because the army forces us…

In the city of Medellín, the so-called ‘searches’ by the army continue in public areas. The army argues that this is a legal act, following orders given by the president. The events occurred beginning February 16, and today – February 20 – again a group of soldiers from the Girardot Batallion of Villa Hermosa are conducting operations in the area around Berrio Park, San Antonio Park and Playa Avenue, illegally detaining young men who don’t have a military registry card.

Extracts from interview, August 23, 2004
Interviewer: John Lindsay-Poland

In that time, in those areas, it was really hard for the youth who didn’t have a position – that were not taking up arms. It was very hard because they were in the middle of a logic, a crossroads, right? You were the one carrying a weapon, or you were dying from a stab, right? It was a condition of absolute fear.

More than having a political idea of a different country, no, there was none of that at the beginning. It was, you could say, an instinctive response to a situation. They simply were tired. Of being in the middle of a bunch of armed groups, and people who are setting up weapons for youth, setting up disputes.