Pablo Paredes Faces Court Martial For Refusing to Fight in Iraq
The US military has announced another court-martial of a service member for refusing to go to Iraq. Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes is a weapons control technician who joined the Navy in 2000. In December, he refused to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it left for a six-month tour in the Pacific and Indian oceans. At the time, he said he hoped his protest might inspire other sailors, soldiers and Marines to refuse to take part in the war. On Friday, the Navy announced that Paredes will face a special court-martial, the military equivalent of a civilian misdemeanor trial. The charges against him include absence without leave and missing movement. The 23-year-old from the Bronx, New York, faces a maximum of one year in jail, a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge if he's convicted. No date for a court-martial has been set. Paredes has applied for contentious objector status and a decision is expected next week. A Navy chaplain who met with Paredes in January wrote that it was "morally imperative" that his request be granted. When we last spoke to him, he was underground. Pablo Paredes joins us on the line now from San Diego.
PABLO PAREDES: Well, it was a very unexpected situation, not in that I didn't expect legal charges to eventually be brought, but the timeliness, because much like when I was recruited, I went in expecting one thing and came out getting a totally different one. I showed up, and I was told the week before that Friday would be the day that I would be told if my conscientious objector package would be approved at the local level. So I went in kind of jittery and wondering how that was going to play out, and I was told the conscientious objector package ruling was postponed until next week and that I should step into one of the chief's offices. And when I stepped into the chief's office, I was handed papers and told that I was going on special court-martial, and the charges that were filed against me. It was interesting because it had been three months since I had turned myself in, and there's really not a thorough investigation that needs to go on. There are two charges that are very basic, and everything that has happened is on camera. So there's not too much investigating that has to happen. So up until now, the fact that they had waited three months had led me to believe that they were going to take the conscientious objector package seriously, but now I'm inclined to think that was more just to let the buzz around the situation quiet down.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/28/1434217
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