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Lance Corporal Joe Glenton faces prison for not going to war - good on him

War Resisters' International learned today that Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, who already faces charges of desertion for refusing to return to Afghanistan, has been arrested and charged with five counts of "disobeying a lawful order" public speaking resisting the war and in London on 24 October 2009, and for expressing his opposition to the war in Afghanistan to the media.

Penalties for desertion and absence without leave and for other military related crimes are regulated in the Armed Forces Act 2008. According to section 8, desertion can be punished with life imprisonment if the aim was to avoid a period of active service, otherwise with no more than two years imprisonment. Being absent without leave can also be punished with imprisonment of up to two years (section 9).

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton handed himself in in August 2009 after two years and six days' absence, during which he went to south-east Asia and Australia. On 30 July, Joe Glenton delivered a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In this letter, he wrote:
"(...) I believe that when British military personnel submit themselves to the service of the nation and put their bodies into harm's way, the government that sends them into battle is obliged to ensure that the cause is just and right, i.e. for the protection of life and liberty.
The war in Afghanistan is not reducing the terrorist risk, far from improving Afghan lives it is bringing death and devastation to their country. Britain has no business there.
I do not believe that our cause in Afghanistan is just or right. I implore you, Sir, to bring our soldiers home."

War Resisters' International believes that the new charges are a violation of the right to freedom of speech. In a report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee from September 2009, WRI pointed out that "Members of the Armed Forces “are not to take any active part in the affairs of any political organisation, party or movement. They are not to participate in political marches or demonstrations”. This is a serious infringement of the right to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly, as enshrined in Article 21 and 22 ICCPR". Members of the Armed Forces are also not permitted to speak in public or to the media without prior permission, which is a violation of their right to freedom of expression (Article 19 ICCPR).

Britain is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and of the European Convention on Human Rights. The new charges against Joe Glenton are in violation of both human rights conventions.

War Resisters' International calls for letters of support to Joe Glenton:
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton
Military Corrective Training Centre
Berechurch Hall Camp
Colchester
Essex CO2 9NU
Britain

War Resisters' International calls for letters of protest to the British authorities, and British embassies abroad. A protest email to Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth can be sent at

http://wri-irg.org/node/9250.

War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of Joe Glenton, and calls on the British authorities to drop the charges of "disobeying a lawful order".

Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International

LHM

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

Protest against his arrest outside MOD 12 Nov

12.11.2009 08:34

Protest against his arrest outside MOD Whitehal, opposite Downing Street thurs 12 Nov at 5 pm. Organised by STWC

but

12.11.2009 10:25

why did he join the army if he didnt want to fight, it is a part of the job?

its like joining the ambulance service but not wanting to meet people or deal with blood.

Maybe he should write a note to his mates who have to rely on each other, that his personal feelings were worth more than their lives, because when it comes down to it, the only people who are effected by his decision is the man on his left who wont have the cover from him, and if that man is killed then he will have that mans blood on his hands. Not the politician, who dosnt ask for his death when he asks for a mans service - every soldiers fate is his own and this man has near sealed anothers.

This is a human story not a matter of politics, ours is a volenteer army not conscript, its easy to be a soldier in peace, but in war is when you have to earn your pay.

I know opinion is decent here, but freedom of speech is like water, only of value where there isnt any.

anon

anon

12.11.2009 12:42

Like many people he 'volunteered' under the promises that he was protecting this nation and defending its borders from a threat that was posed. We all fell for that, myself including. They lure you in with promises of honour, paid for education/training, and a chance to do good. To say it's a volunteer is a joke, many people with a poor education or lack of money have no choice but to join the army, there's no other sources of work left in our communities. You might have the fortune of living in a big city with good job prospects but we do not.

In reality the recruiters are lying to the youth. People didn't join up to be sent to some mountainous landlocked country, under the guise of defeating international terrorism. We were sent there to clean up the legacy of America's mistakes, we were sent to clean out the poppy fields, and control the legacy of America's arms exports against the Soviets. We are in Afghanistan simply to do the US a favour. Afghanistan poses no threat to the UK, it poses no threat to our 'democracy'. It's an illusion, a lie, and a smoke screen for the military capitalist complex.

Luckily somewhat i'd served my time and left in 2006 upon realising the truth, I wasn't there doing any good. I was a paid mercenary there to kill anyone who got in the way of the USA/UK. Never again will I join the army. And I urge those who are still there to refuse your orders to ship out. The politicians are lying to you like they lied to me. Once you lose, get injured and are no longer useful to them in the battles for neo-colonialism they're not interested. I lost my right arm from the elbow down, bullet went straight through the bone and out the other side, got infected and was amputated. No amount of money is worth that.

an ex squaddie

Solidarity with military resisters

12.11.2009 14:50

Presently, there is more serious nonviolent resistance to this war coming out of the military than out of civil society. Wherever the nonviolent resistance comes from we should be proactive in offering solidarity. The backgrounds, musical tastes, politics, hairstyles of the resisters will be many and varied that should be celebrated not used as an excuse to back off

Here's the link to U.S. soldiers before the courts and in jail for refusing deployment and redployment to Afghanistan

www.couragetoresist.org

Ciaron
Plowshares

Ciaron
Homepage: http://www.couragetoresist.org

No choice?

12.11.2009 17:54

"To say it's a volunteer is a joke, many people with a poor education or lack of money have no choice but to join the army, there's no other sources of work left in our communities."

This is oft-repeated nonsense. Given the choice between the dole and stuffing a gun in someone's face I'd know what was the right choice to make. That's a bit like saying "there's no jobs round here so I became a mugger/crack dealer".

Bob

"there's no jobs round here so I became a mugger/crack dealer"

13.11.2009 22:30

Yes you are quite rite there! That is a choice made by too many young men in an atmosphere of depravity.

The armed forcers offers an alternative, for those who make the grade (and many young men who idolise the uniform don't): camaraderie, good pay, a place to live, challenging and personally rewarding work, difficult decisions made for them, (although not necessarily good ones. No one joins up to go to war!) And what is expected in return? Not to question 'political leaders', to invade other countries, to murder people and potentially get your balls blown off.

For some, it turns out to be a good choice; for others it devastates their lives and the lives of their families, and not to mention their victims.

http://www.iraqbodycount.org No one is doing a civilian body count in Aghganistan!

And that's right, the british forces have not entered this 'War of Terror' as a benevolent peace keeper.

To privileged educated people who have thought long and deep, killing people, even if you disagree with them or more to the point; your political leaders disagree with their political leaders, is always morally reprehensible. A sense of morality is a weakness to a professional soldier.

I congratulate Joe Glenton for his personal moral decision, if some what belated.

It is a sad, but understandable, state of the armed forces that so few individuals have developed such a level of moral consciousness.

Henry Twigger, ex. T.A.

"No one joins up to go to war"

15.11.2009 18:01

Maybe they don't, but to join the armed forces without considering this possibility is naive in the extreme. Frankly I find it unbelievable that potential enlistees don't even think about this before signing up. Surely no-one's so stupid as to join the military without knowing that the main purpose of an army is to go and fight other people's armies at the whim of corrupt politicians?