IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT RE U.S. WAR RESISTERS IN CANADA – AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

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Canadian Bill C-440 would allow U.S. Iraq War Resisters to stay legally in Canada

See below for how you can help.

In June 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to cease deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters and allow them to stay legally in Canada. All three opposition parties joined together to pass this historic motion, which reflected the wishes of the majority of Canadians.

The motion was non-binding, and shamefully, the Conservative Harper government ignored it. The following month, war resister Robin Long was deported from Canada. Robin was court-martialed and incarcerated in a military prison for 15 months. The lengthy prison sentence meant that Robin – who has a son in Canada – cannot return to the country for up to 10 years.

In February of 2009, war resister Cliff Cornell was deported from Canada. Cliff served nine months in the brig at Fort Lejeune.

In March of the same year, Canada’s Parliament passed a second motion, re-affirming its support for U.S. war resisters. Again, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government ignored the will of Parliament.

Now there is an opportunity to put the weight of law behind these two non-binding motions. Gerard Kennedy, a Liberal Member of Parliament, has put forth a “private member’s bill” – Bill C-440 – calling on the Harper government to stop the deportations and allow U.S. war resisters to stay.

A private member’s bill is legislation coming from an opposition party (i.e., not the government). Such bills face many hurdles and are not easily passed – but C-440 stands a better chance than most.

The War Resisters Support Campaign (WRSC) is working with M.P. Kennedy to demonstrate the wide support for war resisters throughout Canada, and to ensure that a majority of Members of Parliament vote for the bill.

Debate on Bill C-440 begins on May 25, 2010. A vote in the House of Commons will take place some months later, then the bill will go to the Senate. If this bill becomes law, Iraq War resisters will be able to apply for permanent residence in Canada.

Meanwhile, while working on this political campaign, the WRSC must continue to fight each individual war resister’s case in court. This has been a long, arduous battle. The Conservative government has tried to exhaust the Campaign’s resources. Undaunted, the WRSC has won several significant victories: a second Immigration and Refugee Board hearing for war resister Joshua Key, a court-ordered review of a decision in war resister Kimberley Rivera’s case, and many stays of removal. However, many war resisters are still at risk of deportation, including Patrick Hart and Jeremy Hinzman and their families.

Many U.S. supporters have asked what they can do to support the our efforts. As a U.S. citizen, the most important thing you can do to help war resisters in Canada is donate funds. The WRSC is constantly fundraising for legal defense, refugee application fees, work permits for war resisters and other necessary expenses. Our entire effort depends upon the donations of volunteers and supporters.

There are three ways to donate. No amount is too small (or too large!).

1. To mail a donation, please make a check or money order payable to the War Resisters Support Campaign. Mail it to:
Box 13
427 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1X7 CANADA

2. To give online, follow this link:

http://resisters.chipin.com

3. Regular donations provide stable funding for the Campaign which allows us to plan ahead and deal with emergency situations as they arise. Please consider making a commitment of $5 or more per month to help sustain the ongoing work to win asylum for war resisters. To set up a monthly donation, fill out the form here --

http://letthemstay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/WRSC-PAD-Agreement.pdf

-- and send it to:

Box 13
427 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1X7 CANADA

The War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada)
resisters.ca
letthemstay.ca

-Thanks to Laura at We Move To Canada

This is NOT a video of people trying to stop the drones from killing Afghanis and Pakistanis from Syracuse

It is a video of non-violent protesters trying to stop armed Israeli occupiers from completing their dirt work.

Palestinian teen killed by Israeli Army

Re-deploy Eric Jasinski, one our wounded soldiers? It's right to resist - for his safety, the safety of his unit and the Iraq and Afghanistan people

Is it right to re-deploy wounded soldiers? Eric Jasinski, veteran of the Iraq war, stood for his sanity, his safety and the safety of his unit when the Army's care for his PTSD was too little too late.

donate to the Eric Jasinski Defense Fund

Imam Assassination Sparks Fears of Violence

Imam Assassination Sparks Fears of Violence

Posted using ShareThis

Ground the Drones - Stop the Assassinations -Syracuse, April 27

- click on graphic to enlarge -

Cruel treatment of British Soldier, Joe Glenton, who refused to fight in Afghanistan

Soldier Joe Glenton, who was court martialled on 5 March and jailed for nine months for refusing to fight in Afghanistan, and for speaking out at anti-war demonstrations, is being subjected to cruel treatment by army prison staff.
By Chris Nineham
Stop the War Coalition
11 April 2010

Joe Glenton, the British soldier who refused to return to fight in Afghanistan in a war he believed to be unjustified and unwinnable, is receiving cruel treatment at the hands of military prison staff, following his court martial and sentence to nine months imprisonment.

The prison authorities are trying to force him to sleep under an unwashed or dirty blanket - a punishment that often leads prisoners to get body lice - and to wear boots despite the fact he has broken his toe.

He has also received no treatment for his Post Traumatic Stress disorder despite the fact that the Judge who sentenced him 36 days ago assured the court he would receive treatment in prison.

Problems started after complaints that he was not receiving books sent by supporters. On Thursday 8th April he was told he was to be disciplined after claims he insulted an officer.
Joe denies the claims. The authorities refused his lawyers' application that he be represented at the disciplinary hearing.

Joe has refused to accept the 'blanket treatment', part of a punishment called One Bravo, despite threats of solitary confinement.

Joe's mother Sue Glenton said today:

"We are seriously concerned for his welfare. This kind of bullying and victimisation is simply unacceptable. It is hardly going to help his mental state."

John Tipple, Joe's legal caseworker, said:

"This kind of treatment is from the 19th century not the 21st. We are determined to test its legality in court at the first opportunity. The military should not be allowed to get away with this cruel and degrading treatment."

Most people in Britain oppose the war in Afghanistan. It is extraordinary that Joe Glenton, already being punished for his anti war views by a nine month prison sentence, is now being picked on by the military in prison. Stop the War will be organising protests outside the military prison where Joe is being held and at his appeal hearing against his prison sentance on Wednesday 21 April (details below).

You can email your protest about the prison's treatment of Joe to:mctcwelfare@hotmail.com.

Joe's appeal hearing is Tomorrow, April 21, 2010

Send messages of support to:
Email: defendjoeglenton@gmail.com

Letters:
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton
Military Corrective Training
Berechurch Hall Camp
Colchester CO2 9NU, UK
Joe would welcome any books for him to read while in prison.

Protest at Joe Glenton's appeal hearing
Calling for his immediate release
Wednesday 21 April 9.30am
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London WC2

-thanks to Stop the War Coalition

-see We Move To Canada

Open letter by Eric Jasinski from the Bell County Jail - Share

Please, please read this letter. After that, please pass it on to others. We as the American people need to know how badly veterans are being treated.

Introduction: Eric wrote me this open letter while in the Bell County jail and asked that I share it with the public.

I had been sitting for the last week, hoping against hope that the authorities at Fort Hood would DO THE RIGHT THING. It is now April 20th and they have yet to act on our very reasonable clemency request (submitted 14 days ago). Our request was simple, either release Eric early on mental health grounds or transfer him to the Psych ward at Darnell Army Medical Center to complete his sentence.

Based on Fort Hood's decision to ignore Eric Jasinksi while he is suffering in jail, I am now publishing his statement. It is verbatim what Eric wrote in his own handwriting while in jail. (I left the grammar issues intact so you could see how upset and raw his emotions were when he wrote this.)

Please share this statement with everyone you know. We as Americans need to see how combat vets are being treated today. Eric is in jail; he has PTSD and was denied the care he needed. His "desertion" was an act of desperation, the act of a soldier who had no other options.

His incarceration is black mark of shame on Fort Hood, the US Army and our nation.
- James M. Branum, Civilian defense attorney

DISCLAIMER: To comply with military regulations, all statements below are the opinion of Eric Jasinski. They do not reflect the views of the U.S. Army.

Since entering the jail I feel my mental state is greatly declining. I do have access to my medication (zoloft, seraquil, periactim, ambien) but even my medication is beginning to have no effect. Even after taking a seraquil all day and then taking 200 mg of seraquil and ambien, I still can't fall asleep. I sleep on and off throughout the day and night and when I am in isolation mode (I suffer from severe anxiety and social isolation from chronic PTSD), I cannot get any privacy to wind myself down. The thin plastic mattress on my steel bunk makes my insomnia that much worse.

When I am taken out of jail back to Fort Hood for any appointments I am led around in handcuffs and ankle shackles in front of crowds of soldiers in the offices I am going to, which is overwhelming on my mind. My guilt from treating prisoners in Iraq sub-human and I did things to them and watched my unit do cruel actions against prisoners, so being humiliated like that forces me to fall into the dark spiral of guilt. I now know what it feels like to have no rights and have people stare and judge based on your shackles and I feel even more like a monster cause I used to do this to Iraqi people.

Even worse is the fact that this boils down to the military failing to treat my PTSD but I am being punished for it when I got to the R&R center on Fort Hood on 8 April because I felt like I was entering a crisis that landed me in the mental ward, on Fort Hood for 21 days in December 2009. I was told to wait until Monday 12 April and not do anything dumb by a psychiatrist. I feel as if I am being a threat to others or myself and still the Army mental health professional blow me off just like in 2009 when I felt like I had no choice but to go AWOL, since I received a 5 minute mental evaluation and was stop-lossed despite my PTSD, and was told that they could do nothing for me. The insufficient mental evaluation from a doctor I had never seen before, combined with the insufficient actions by the doctor on 9 April show the Army is not trying to make progress. The Army is simply trying to label us as outcasts and put together useless programs for public relations just like Vietnam.

I have tried to "do the right thing" as those in the Army say and all they do in return is destroy me even more mentally and publicly say that they are going to look out for me while behind closed doors the exact opposite is happening. The Army works off of a "good ole boy" system and I have fallen out of the graces of the machine. So I have been tossed in the trash just like the brave and honorable resisters of Vietnam. The machine never stops and it never changes.

Respectfully,
Eric Jasinksi
IVAW member

You can donate to the Eric Jasinski Defense Fund

-thanks to Bruce Beyer

Stop military use of Depleted Uraniam (DU)

The United Nations has declared DU an illegal weapon. The European Union has passed a resolution calling for a moratorium and global ban on the production and use of depleted uranium munitions. Information and research is being suppressed and discredited by our government and military much as the toxic defoliant Agent Orange was during and after the Vietnam War. Similar to Agent Orange – now irrefutably recognized to have caused rampant death, disease, and environmental damage among U.S. troops and Southeast Asian lands and peoples – depleted uranium munitions as used in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans presents a national and world public health threat we must confront.

Depleted uranium is a chemically toxic radioactive heavy metal 1.7 times the density of lead. It is the uranium waste remaining after the process of enriching uranium to be used in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. Thousands of tons of the waste are recycled to weapons manufacturers by the government for use in M-16 shells, tank shells and other munitions and to manufacturers of military tanks and vehicles as up-armored shields. As effective as DU is as a penetrating explosive weapon and shielding device, its effects are much more far-reaching as long-term poisonous residuals in human bodies, soil, and air. When a depleted uranium round hits a hard target, as much as 70 percent of the projectile can burn on impact, creating a firestorm of depleted uranium oxides. The toxic residue of this firestorm is an extremely fine insoluble uranium dust. The dust can spread by the wind, be inhaled and absorbed into the human body and absorbed by plants and animals, becoming part of the food chain. The breathable uranium oxides are passed through to offspring, and may result in birth defects. With a half-life of 4.5 billion years DU and its effects last virtually forever.

-Thanks to Veterans For Peace

An Open Letter of Reconciliation & Responsibility To the Iraqi People

Josh Stieber and Ethan McCord from Bravo Company 2-16, the company depicted in the Wikieleaks "Collateral Murder" video, have created an open letter to the Iraqi people.

AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION &

RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE

-thanks to IVAW