All out for Bradley! June 1-8
June 1-8: International week of action for Bradley Manning. For those that can't make it to Ft. Meade, dozens of solidarity events are currently planned worldwide, including: Seoul, Toronto, London, Heidelberg, Cardiff, and Honolulu. Complete listing of events. After more than three years of imprisonment, including nine months of torture, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning’s trial is finally scheduled to begin June 3, 2013, at Fort Meade, Maryland. The outcome of this trial will determine whether a conscience-driven 25-year-old WikiLeaks whistle-blower spends the rest of his life in prison. Bradley believed that the American people have a right to know the truth about what our government does around the world in our name. We the People must send a message to the military prosecuting authority, and President Obama, that Bradley Manning is a patriot and heroic truth-teller. Please take our 10 question survey. With less than two weeks remaining before the start of Bradley's trial, we're asking for your feedback in prioritizing a number of possible projects.
LGBTQ leaders uphold Bradley Manning Pride honor
May 2, 2013 Recently, it was announced that PFC Bradley Manning would be a grand marshal of the 2013 San Francisco Pride Celebration. We felt this decision was a bold and uplifting choice, bestowing a great May honor on a young whistleblower being persecuted for following his conscience. Much to our disappointment, two days later SF Pride board president Lisa Williams issued a separate announcement that the SF Pride board would not be honoring PFC Manning as a grand marshal after all. It appears the SF pride board’s reversal was affected by criticism from a recently formed gay military rights group. International Conscientious Objector Day May 15
This Berkeley event features Conscientious Objectors and War Resisters from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Speakers include: Kriss Worthington, Berkeley City Councilmember; Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist; Emma Cape, Bradley Manning Support Network; Bob Meola, Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission, War Resisters League. Iraq War Resister Kimberly Rivera sentenced to 14 months
Please help us provide humanitarian assistance to these courageous objectors with your contribution to the Rivera Family Support Fund today! By the War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada). April 29, 2013 On Monday afternoon, during a court-martial hearing at Fort Carson, Colorado, Kimberly Rivera was sentenced to 14 months in military prison and a dishonorable discharge after publicly expressing her conscientious objection to the Iraq War while in Canada. Under the terms of a pre-trial agreement, she will serve 10 months of that sentence. (Photo right: Mario and Kim Rivera moments before Kim was taken to away in chains. She is currently in the local county jail awaiting transfer to a military prison.) Private First Class Kimberly Rivera deployed to Iraq in 2006 and sought asylum in Canada in 2007 because she decided she could no longer be complicit in the war. A mother of four young children—including two who were born in Canada—she was forced back to the United States of America by the Conservative government after receiving a negative decision on her pre-removal risk assessment. A Federal Court judge denied her request for a stay of removal, finding the possibility of her arrest and detention in the U.S. to be “speculative.” Rivera was arrested three days later, on September 20, 2012, as she presented herself at the U.S. border. Interview with war resister Kimberly Rivera, trial Monday
Please help us provide humanitarian assistance to these courageous objectors with your contribution to the Rivera Family Support Fund today! By Bob Meola, Courage to Resist. April 23, 2013 Kimberly Rivera is at Fort Carson, Colorado, awaiting the April 29th start of her Army court martial trial for two specifications of one count of desertion. I asked Kimberly to talk about her present situation, and her thoughts and feelings as her trial nears next week. Here is Kimberly Rivera in her own words: Grant awarded to Courage to Resist
By Courage to Resist. April 15, 2013 Courage to Resist is a proud recipient of a grant this tax day by the Northern California War Tax Resistance and the People's Life Fund. The People's Life Fund’s money comes from conscientious war tax resisters in Northern California who deposit or donate all or part of the amount they would otherwise pay to the federal government in income taxes. Courage to Resist will share $20,000 with about 20 other SF Bay Area organizations. Our share will be used to assist war resister Kimberly Rivera and her family. Kimberly will likely be sentenced to military prison on April 29, while her husband is left to care for their four small children. Justin Colby sentenced to 9 months jail
Please write a letter today in support of this objector's early release Update April 19, 2013: War resister Justin Colby transferred to Fort Lewis, south of Seattle, to serve nine month prison sentence. Write him directly at: COLBY, Justin / 1450 Alder Rd. / Box 339536 / Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA 98433-9536 By SPC Justin Colby, US Army. March 22, 2013 Justin wrote this statement a few hours before being sent away for 9 months to a military prison. Justin had lived in Canada in order to refuse a second Iraq deployment, and to better care for his family. See below for how to help Justin now. My name is Justin Colby and I am an Active Duty soldier serving in the United States Army. I am writing today to talk about some of my experiences serving in the US Army. I admit that there were many positive experiences about my serving the Army (and I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for many of those that I served with), but for the purposes of this writing I will focus on the negative experiences that shaped my ability to participate in this organization. US War objector-in-exile Jules Tindungan
"We treated them like dog shit. We’d roll into a village and the guys would throw water bottles at the kids. We’d do home incursions. It was like police harassment in L.A. that I’d seen growing up. We were foreign cops in another people’s country." Jules Tindungan (photo right) is a U.S. War Resister living in Toronto, Ontario. He joined the Army in 2005. Jules comes from a military family. His grandfather was from the Philippines and served in World War II and was present at the Bataan death march. An after effect of his service was U.S. citizenship for his family. Many other family members served in the military. Jules’ brother is currently deployed in Afghanistan. Numerous uncles and cousins are also current members of the U.S. military. April 2013 print newsletter
We're proud to share our April 2013 print newsletter (PDF). This tri-annual newsletter highlights Bradley Manning's historic statement taking credit for exposing war crimes and government corruption, "Bradley Manning in his own words," as well as updates on war resisters Kimberly Rivera and Jules Tindungan. Kimberly facing prison at an upcoming April 29 hearing for having sought refugee status in Canada with her family. Meanwhile Jules won a Canadian court decision recently that allows him to stay in Canada--for now. Last Friday we mailed thousands of copies to friends and supporters around the world, but you can also view, print, and share it here. We publish our newsletter every four months so folks have a quick overview of our recent work. It's the next best thing to regularly checking in with us via our website and/or our Facebook page. Bradley Manning explains why he gave docs to WikiLeaks
"I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information... it could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan." - Bradley Manning I wrote this statement in confinement, so… The following facts are provided in support of the providence inquiry for my court martial, United States v. Pfc. Bradley E. Manning. I am a 25-year old Private First Class in the United States Army currently assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, HHC, US Army Garrison—USAG, Joint Base Myer, Henderson Hall, Fort Meyer, Virginia. Prior to this assignment, I was assigned to HHC, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. My primary military occupational specialty or PMOS is 35 fox-trot: intelligence analyst. I entered active duty status on 2 October 2007. I enlisted with the hope of obtaining both real-world experience and earning benefits under the GI Bill for college opportunities. Canadian court rules for US war resister Jules Tindungan
By the War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada). February 4, 2013 TORONTO, ONTARIO - On Friday, February 1, the Federal Court of Canada released a decision granting United Stated (US) war resister Jules Tindungan a new hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). The Court found errors in the original IRB decision pertaining to issues which are at the heart of asylum claims by US soldiers in Canada. Mr. Tindungan is one of dozens of former US soldiers who have sought asylum in Canada because of their objection to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tindungan refused to return to combat for the United States military in 2008 after serving a 15 month combat tour and seeing first-hand the breaches of the Geneva Conventions committed by US forces. Mr. Tindungan argued before the Refugee Board that he faces differential punishment in the US because he has spoken out publicly against US military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also argued that he would not get a fair trial if returned because the US court-martial system is not an independent and impartial tribunal as required under Canadian and International law. More Articles...
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In Berkeley, California, join us on International Conscientious Objectors’ Day, Wednesday, May 15th, to celebrate the 7th Annual Berkeley C.O. and War Resisters’ Day. Peace Flag raising ceremony at 11:30am at the Civic Center flagpole at 2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley.
By Bob Meola, Courage to Resist. March 15, 2013
By Army PFC Bradley Manning. Read to Judge Denise Lind, Fort Meade courtroom, February 28, 2013. Transcript by the Bradley Manning Support Network--including Courage to Resist members.
Refugee Protection Division ignored evidence that US military justice system fails to meet basic fairness standards Donate
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First public Iraq War military objector
