Agustin Aguayo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agustín Aguayo (* 1971 in Guadalajara , Jalisco , Mexico ) is an American veteran of the Iraq war . After several unsuccessful attempts to be recognized as a conscientious objector , he deserted from his unit in Germany in September 2006 to avoid being deployed to Iraq again. He was convicted of desertion by a court martial on March 6, 2007 and served six months in prison. His trial resulted in Amnesty International declaring him a political prisoner and making him a hero of US and European peace movements .

background

Agustín Aguayo was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and is a US national. He enrolled in the US Army in 2002 to earn money for his education. The Iraq war began the following year. Aguayo was trained as an infantryman by the army . After his further individual training he was stationed in Germany and soon afterwards deployed in the Middle East.

Although Aguayo was not an opponent of the war when he signed up, he said that because of his experiences in the army, he had become one. In February 2004, he applied to be recognized as a conscientious objector, but was reportedly denied by a three-person panel with two to one votes. He was posted to Tikrit , where he served as a paramedic for a year . In 2005 he sued the US Army in federal court for conscientious objection, but his suit was dismissed.

prison sentence

Agustín Aguayo was told that his unit was being relocated to Iraq, but he missed the relocation to the operational area. When the military police came to his house in Schweinfurt on September 2, 2006 , he climbed out of the bathroom window and was absent from military service for 24 days . On September 27th, he surrendered to Fort Irwin, California and declared: "That was the right thing to do (...) I am not a deserter and not a coward."

On March 6, 2007, Aguayo was convicted of desertion by a military court in Würzburg . The sentence was only eight months in prison; a maximum of seven years would have been possible. Aguayo told the court, "I did my best, but I couldn't stand the guns and could never aim a gun at anyone." A military prosecutor rejected Aguayo's reasoning, stating that his service as a medic was important, it didn't matter whether he would have carried a gun or not. He was dishonorably dismissed and demoted to the lowest rank for bad behavior . Amnesty International called Aguayo a political prisoner for following his convictions and believes that he "took the appropriate steps to get a due discharge from the army" and that he was "only detained for conscientious objection".

Dismissal and Activism

Since Aguayo already 161 days in custody was sitting, he was released on 18 April. He then returned to his family in Los Angeles . On his return, he shared his experiences in front of anti-war activists who welcomed him like a hero, as the Los Angeles Times described it. Der Spiegel also called him a "hero" for the US and European peace movement because of his legal proceedings.

Aguayo began talking about his activities in schools: “I want to make young people aware of them. We ask them to sacrifice so much, but we don't educate them about the reality of the war. ”In December 2007 he was awarded the Stuttgart Peace Prize.

Personal

Agustin Aguayo is married to Helga Aguayo and has two daughters.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b USA: Prisoner of Conscience: Agustín Aguayo . Amnesty International. March 8, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  2. ^ A b c Charles Hawley: Aguayo Follows His Conscience to the Brig . In: Der Spiegel . March 6, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  3. ↑ a b c d Soldier who refused Iraq tour turns himself in , MSNBC. September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012. 
  4. ^ Amy Goodman: War Resister Agustin Aguayo Speaks Out After his Release from Military Prison for Refusing to Fight in Iraq . In: Democracy Now! . May 17, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ a b c Army medic found guilty of desertion , MSNBC. March 6, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012. 
  6. ↑ Catherine Hornby: US medic gets 8 months jail for Iraq desertion . In: Reuters . March 6, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Mark St. Clair: After jail stint, deserter Aguayo returning to LA . In: Stars and Stripes . May 10, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  8. ^ Stuart Silverstein: War resister gets a hero's welcome . In: Los Angeles Times . July 23, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  9. ^ A b Madeline Chambers: Army deserter wants to change recruitment . In: Reuters . December 17, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  10. ↑ German Information about Stuttgart Peace Price and Die AnStifter . Stuttgart Peace Prize of the Donors. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Aguayo, Agustin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aguayo, Agustin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American military conscientious objector
DATE OF BIRTH 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Guadalajara , Jalisco , Mexico