Agustin Aguayo
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| + | ==Court denies Army medic's conscientious objector claim== | ||
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| + | [[February 17, 2007]] WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court refused on Friday to overturn the detention of a U.S. Army medic who declared his opposition to war on the eve of his deployment to Iraq. | ||
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| + | Agustin Aguayo, who enlisted in 2002 during the run-up to the Iraq war, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to release him from a military prison. He had sought an honorable discharge as a "conscientious objector." | ||
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| + | Aguayo, who has been held in a U.S. prison in Germany since going absent without leave, said he enlisted as a way to earn money for his education. Though military operations in Afghanistan were under way and discussions about Iraq were ongoing, he said he never considered that he'd have to fight. | ||
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| + | He faces up to seven years in prison on charges of desertion and missing movement and is scheduled to face trial next month, his attorney, Peter Goldberger said. Goldberger said he would ask the appeals court to reconsider the decision. | ||
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| + | "It breaks my heart because I think he's sincere," the lawyer added. | ||
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| + | Goldberger told the court in November that Aguayo's beliefs evolved over time and "crystallized" to the point that he could no longer take a life. | ||
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| + | The Army said that wasn't enough. To receive conscientious-objector status, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin K. Robitaille said, a soldier must show a deeply rooted objection to war in any form. | ||
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| + | "These cases are hard for people to believe because they involve a change in people's beliefs, but when you think about how old they were when they signed up, it's not that surprising at all," Goldberger said Friday. | ||
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| + | Government attorneys noted that Aguayo applied as a conscientious objector only after receiving his orders to Iraq and did so at the same time as his best friend. They said there was not enough evidence to support Aguayo's argument. | ||
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| + | The appeals court unanimously agreed, saying it could overturn the Army's decision only in the most extraordinary circumstances. The court found that the military had good reason to deny Aguayo's application. | ||
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| + | The three-judge panel said Aguayo had little evidence to support his growing moral conviction against war and said the Army appropriately weighed the suspicious timing of his application. | ||
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| + | "Though Aguayo stated that his Army training caused him anguish and guilt, we find little indication that his beliefs were accompanied by study or contemplation, whether before or after he joined the Army," Judge David B. Sentelle wrote. | ||
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| + | http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02/17/military/14_29_432_16_07.txt | ||
| ==AWOL medic confined in Mannheim to await charges== | ==AWOL medic confined in Mannheim to await charges== | ||
Revision as of 17:24, 17 February 2007
http://www.aguayodefense.org/index.html
http://www.tomjoad.org/warheroes7.htm#aguayo
http://sfbay.indymedia.org/newsitems/2006/09/27/18314785.php
Court denies Army medic's conscientious objector claim
February 17, 2007 WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court refused on Friday to overturn the detention of a U.S. Army medic who declared his opposition to war on the eve of his deployment to Iraq.
Agustin Aguayo, who enlisted in 2002 during the run-up to the Iraq war, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to release him from a military prison. He had sought an honorable discharge as a "conscientious objector."
Aguayo, who has been held in a U.S. prison in Germany since going absent without leave, said he enlisted as a way to earn money for his education. Though military operations in Afghanistan were under way and discussions about Iraq were ongoing, he said he never considered that he'd have to fight.
He faces up to seven years in prison on charges of desertion and missing movement and is scheduled to face trial next month, his attorney, Peter Goldberger said. Goldberger said he would ask the appeals court to reconsider the decision.
"It breaks my heart because I think he's sincere," the lawyer added.
Goldberger told the court in November that Aguayo's beliefs evolved over time and "crystallized" to the point that he could no longer take a life.
The Army said that wasn't enough. To receive conscientious-objector status, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin K. Robitaille said, a soldier must show a deeply rooted objection to war in any form.
"These cases are hard for people to believe because they involve a change in people's beliefs, but when you think about how old they were when they signed up, it's not that surprising at all," Goldberger said Friday.
Government attorneys noted that Aguayo applied as a conscientious objector only after receiving his orders to Iraq and did so at the same time as his best friend. They said there was not enough evidence to support Aguayo's argument.
The appeals court unanimously agreed, saying it could overturn the Army's decision only in the most extraordinary circumstances. The court found that the military had good reason to deny Aguayo's application.
The three-judge panel said Aguayo had little evidence to support his growing moral conviction against war and said the Army appropriately weighed the suspicious timing of his application.
"Though Aguayo stated that his Army training caused him anguish and guilt, we find little indication that his beliefs were accompanied by study or contemplation, whether before or after he joined the Army," Judge David B. Sentelle wrote.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02/17/military/14_29_432_16_07.txt
AWOL medic confined in Mannheim to await charges
1st AD soldier seeking conscientious objector status
- Spc. Agustin Aguayo, center, a medic who surrendered to Army authorities in California last week after going AWOL to avoid a second tour in Iraq, arrived back in Germany on Tuesday. He was escorted by several soldiers as he made his way through Frankfurt International Airport.
FRANKFURT, Germany — Handcuffed and clad in camouflage fatigues, Army Spc. Agustin Aguayo arrived back in Germany on Tuesday after going absent without leave for 24 days and missing his unit’s deployment to Iraq.
Aguayo, a professed conscientious objector, was escorted by several uniformed soldiers as he walked through Frankfurt International Airport shortly after the commercial airliner carrying him landed at noon.
The handcuffs fastened to his wrist were obscured by a woodland-style field jacket. Under the coat, Aguayo gripped a small, plastic water bottle.
When asked if he could comment, Aguayo indicated that he couldn’t.
Several supporters were on hand to observe the 34-year-old combat veteran’s return, including members of the Military Counseling Network, an independent advocacy group for U.S. soldiers based in Europe. Airport commuters who noticed the procession looked on with puzzled expressions.
Aguayo surrendered to Army authorities at Fort Irwin National Training Center in California last week. Reared in Southern California, Aguayo sought sanctuary there after slipping away from his home base in Schweinfurt, Germany, on Sept. 2, the day after his unit began leaving for Iraq.
The Army could charge Aguayo, a medic for the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, with being AWOL and with missing a unit movement. Civilian attorneys for Aguayo have said that similar situations involving soldiers making similar claims have led to jail sentences ranging from a couple of months to a couple of years, as well as a bad-conduct discharge.
Aguayo was taken from the Frankfurt airport to the U.S. Army Confinement Facility-Europe in Mannheim, Germany, where he will be in pretrial confinement while Army officials review the evidence to determine the status of his case, according to 1st Armored Division spokesman Maj. Wayne Marotto.
Aguayo joined the Army for four years in late 2002 under the delayed entry program, according to his wife, Helga. He went to boot camp in January 2003 and eventually deployed to Iraq in February 2004, where he served a year with his unit in Tikrit.
In the months leading up to his first deployment to Iraq, Aguayo came to view himself as a conscientious objector, his wife has said. He applied for conscientious objector status in early 2004 and served with his unit in Iraq while waiting for his request to be processed. Aside from his regular duties as a medic, Aguayo pulled guard duty and went on patrols, his wife said. When he did, however, it was usually, if not always, without a loaded gun.
The Army ultimately rejected Aguayo’s application, but he appealed and continued to maintain he fit the definition even after his unit returned from Iraq in February 2005. The matter is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.
Supporters have maintained from the onset that Aguayo turned himself in to Schweinfurt military police on Sept. 2 with no intention of going AWOL. However, Aguayo went AWOL later that day, they said, because he was told by his superiors that he would deploy to Iraq regardless of his beliefs, even if that meant boarding a transport plane in handcuffs.
On Tuesday, the handcuffs were on, only Aguayo was stepping off of a commercial plane instead of stepping onto a military transport.
