Colombia: Brayan Gonzales Blanco recruited irregularly by the army
On September 2, 2019 Brayan Gonzales Blanco was irregularly recruited by the Army to perform military service in Battalion No. 13 located in the municipality of Ubalá-Cundinamarca (Colombia). He has been incorporated for five months. In the first week of February, 2020 he began the process to define his military status as a conscientious objector and requested to be released. This has led to the military authorities within the battalion exerting psychological violence on him, putting his emotional well-being at risk.
Please send support letters to the Colombian authorities: https://wri-irg.org/es/programmes/rrtk/co-support-email/2020/desacuartelamiento-para-brayan-gonzales-blanco-reclutado
Report shared by Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors - ACOOC
On September 2, 2019 Brayan Gonzales Blanco was irregularly recruited by the Army to perform military service in Battalion No. 13 located in the municipality of Ubalá-Cundinamarca (Colombia). He has been incorporated for five months. In the first week of February, 2020 he began the process to define his military status as a conscientious objector and requested to be released. This has led to the military authorities within the battalion exerting psychological violence on him, putting his emotional well-being at risk.
Brayan went voluntarily to the Military District 51 of Bogotá to ask for information about how to start his process to define his military situation. However, that same day his identitification documents were retained and psychophysical aptitude tests were carried out, without giving any explanation of his rights and exemptions to perform the military service. That day he was transferred in a military vehicle to Battalion No. 13, located in the municipality of Ubalá.
Brayan is a student of a language training program, which is offered by a foreign university in an educational program with an hourly intensity of 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday, which could allow him to be part of an academic exchange in Canada. Despite having shown evidence of this with study certificates, the incorporation procedure was carried out, which constitutes an arbitrary detention.
It’s been five months since he was irregularly recruited. The Battalion granted him a rest permit with a return date on February 1, 2020. Brayan used this time to request advice and accompaniment by the Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors –ACOOC - on how to support through legal procedures his right to conscientious objection, which have been expressed verbally since the first day of his recruitment.
ACOOC suggested to him to return to the battalion on February 4 in order to start the legal procedure before the competent military authorities. On this day, Brayan filed his petition at the Military District No. 46 and requested the start of his process of formal recognition of his right to conscientious objection with a copy to Military District No. 51 where he began his process.
Brayan returned to battalion N°13 on February 5 and that night the colonel in charge of the battalion and several soldiers started to pressure and intimidate him.
On February 6, Brayan received formal communication from the commander of the Battalion where he mentions that he will consider the viability of an appointment with the Interdisciplinary Committee, (a committee that evaluates conscientious objection applications) and notified the commander of the Military District No. 46, Jahan Pino, about the appointment request.
Following the conversation that Brayan had with the military commanders on February 5, Brayan’s mood was affected and these events put his well-being and dignity at risk. It’s worrying the treatment he is receiving by the military. Within the framework of the guarantee of fundamental rights, no person can be subject of psychological violence or threat due to their convictions.
War Resisters‘ International: eMail February 19, 2020.
Keywords: ⇒ Colombia ⇒ Conscientious Objection ⇒ Recruitment