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CAMILO IS FREE! On Tues, Feb. 15th at 6 PM, admirers and supporters of Camilo Mejia will gather to welcome him home and celebrate his courage of conscience with the Abbey award. A "vegetarian Potluck will be shared at 6 PM, a press conference at 6:30 PM and the ceremony at 7 PM. Co-sponsored by St. Patrick's Peace & Justice Committee, Pax Christi-MA, Veterans for Peace, and the Sherborn Chapter of Amnesty Intl.
USA: Freedom to dissent denied. (from Amnesty International's
web site)[.pdf] "Camilo
Mejia Castillo and Abdullah William Webster are conscientious
objectors, whether or not the US military accepts their
status, and both are recognised as prisoners of conscience
by AI. Their continued detention makes the words of President
Bush and his allies ring hollow and they should be immediately
and unconditionally released."
Free Camilo buttons and bumper stickers
are available for the asking by sending a stamped, self-addressed
envelope to: Free Camilo / The Peace Abbey, 2 North Main
Street, Sherborn, MA 01770.
Camilo is serving a one-year prison term at Ft.
Sill, Oklahoma after being found guilty of Desertion
at his Army Court Martial on May 21. He had refused to return
to his unit, citing moral reasons and his misgivings about
the legality of the war and the conduct of US troops toward
Iraqi civilians and prisoners.
Amnesty
International: Demand Immediate elease of US Prisoner
of Conscience Sgt Camilo Mejia
FREE CAMILO!
Camilo Mejia's hearing on his application
as a Conscientious Objector on the 23rd of June, 2004 was
a triumphant moment of the human spirit.
In an austere room, sitting around a table
at a military prison at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, a drama of monumental
significance unfolded like a morality play: A solitary man,
refusing to desert his conscience, stood his ground against
the war in Iraq, and with his head held high, proclaimed
the power and majesty of nonviolence and love. When the
hearing was over, despite all the testimonies and the moral
imperative of his message -- resolute and confident, Camilo
Mejia was led off to confinement like a common criminal
to be punished for humanity's sin of waging war. So long
as Camilo is behind bars, no one is truly free.
Lewis Randa, Witness, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, 6/23/04
 OPEN
LETTER FROM CAMILO'S MOTHER
Maritza Castillo
June 3, 2004
My name is Maritza Castillo, a member of Military Families
Speak Out, and mother of Sargeant Camilo Mejia. On the 21
of May, after a trial scripted by the Army, my son was found
guilty of desertion and sentenced to one year in prison.
In their continuing efforts to punish him, a few days following
the trial, he was shipped to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, thousands
of miles from his young daughter, his family, his lawyers
and the peace organizations and friends that support him.
He was sentenced for disobeying an order to return to Iraq
to kill people of a sovereign nation; sentenced for not
hiding but instead returning to the army to denounce abuses
being committed against the civilian population, young soldiers,
and prisoners of war; sentenced just the same as the executioners
who, following orders of their superiors, abused innocent
prisoners.
I am announcing to the people of the United States of America,
of Iraq and the world that I am not giving up my struggle
for my son and against this immoral and disgraceful war;
I’ll not rest until my son receives justice!!!
I am asking people who support Camilo to write to General
William G. Webster, Jr. (address below) and ask him to reduce
my son’s sentence out of consideration of his request to
be considered a conscientious objector. Camilo decided not
to return to Iraq for moral reasons, not from cowardice.
General Webster has the power to reduce his sentence. Ask
Gen. Webster that he make a transcript of the trial available
as soon as possible because my son’s appeal cannot be presented
without it. Send a copy of this letter to Camilo’s lawyer
(address below) so support for the sentence reduction can
be documented.
We are also asking that you write letters of support to
Camilo (address below), with a copy to me to assure his
correspondence is not being destroyed – a violation of his
rights and another method of making his punishment more
severe.
We are also asking that people around the world contact
the Costa Rican embassy in their respective countries and
urge them to demand that the treaty between Costa Rica and
the United States of America, which clearly establishes
that a Costa Rican citizen can not be forced to extend his
military service, be respected. The North American government
has ignored this treaty, ordering Camilo to go to war, arbitrarily
extending his term of service, and denying defense lawyers
the use of this treaty during his trial at Ft. Stewart on
19 May, 2004. This treaty takes priority over Stop Loss,
the law that the U.S.A. Army uses to retain U.S.A. citizens
in military service in times of war. Stop Loss does not
pertain to Camilo because he is a citizen of Costa Rica
and not the United States of America. As a sovereign nation,
it is important that the government of Costa Rica enforce
this treaty.
We’re also asking for your financial support to continue
working to free Camilo, to continue working for peace and
to guarantee that justice will prevail. You can make a tax
deductible donations to the Peace Abbey/Free Camilo (address
below) Code Pink/Free Camilo (address below).
At the bottom, you will find the addresses of Gen. William
G. Webster, Louis Font & Gale Glazer, Esqs. (Camilo’s lawyers),
Lewis Randa at The Peace Abbey, Camilo and myself. There
are also websites listed that offer information about Camilo.
Peace for the people of Iraq! Peace for the world! Bring
our soldiers home now!
Sincerely yours, Maritza Castillo, mother of Camilo Mejía
Major General William G. Webster, Jr., Commanding General,
Fort Stewart, 42 Wayne Place, Ft. Stewart, GA 31314
Louis P.Font & Gale Glazer, Font &Glazer Esq., 62 Harvard
Street, Suite 100, Brookline, MA. 02445
Lewis M. Randa, The Peace Abbey, Two North Main Street,
Sherborn, Massachusetts 01770, 508-650-3659
Pt. Camilo Mejia , Building 1490, Randolph Rd., Fort Sill,
Ok 73503,
Maritza Castillo., 201 178 Drive # 323, Miami, FL. 33160,
www.mfso@mfso.org
www.codepinkalert.org
www.citizen-soldier.org
www.globalexchange.org
www.peaceabbey.org
Thank you so much for your support,
Maritza Castillo
In Peace and Solidarity for the World!!! Bring Our troops
Home Now!!!
Message from Tod Ensign of Citizen
Soldier
Patriotism of Conscience
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, an outspoken critic
of U.S. military action both before and during the war,
celebrated Mass at the Peace Abbey before Staff Sgt. Camilo
Mejia spoke at the Press Conference. 
Camilo,accompanied by family members and supporters, along
with national and international press, boarded a bus to
Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass. There, Camilo surrendered
to military authorities. Later the same day he was released
on personal recognizance and ordered to return to his National
Guard unit in Miami, Fl. He departed on an American Airlines
flight to Miami accompanied by his mother and aunt and reported
to his unit the next morning. He was then ordered to travel
to Georgia and report the following day, March 17th to military
authorities at Fort Stewart,Georgia.
 Camilo
Mejia's Gracious Sentiments - 2/28/04
Dear Lewis (& everyone at the Abbey),
I wanted to thank you for everything you did for my family
and I, and for all your support, present and future. You treated
us like royalty.
I think what you and your family are doing is something that
to many people is hard to appreciate. Honestly I say that
before the war I would have appreciated The Peace Abbey much
like a tourist appreciates a beautiful historical building
in some colorful town. Now that I have to live with the experience
and the horror of war, The Peace Abbey is a Temple from which
I draw strength and wisdom. At times I feel weak and afraid,
but spending some time with you at the Abbey, having slept
on that bed (where visiting peacemakers from around the world
sleep), and keeping the blood of Monsenor Romero by my chest,
are all things that fill me with purpose.
I have been feeling overwhelmed lately, not just by the task
I have ahead of me, but also by the departure of my girlfriend,
someone you never got to meet. But I know that I have to move
forward, and I know that my sacrifice is minimal compared
to what so many other people have done. I am afraid, but I
know that what I'm about to do is much larger than myself,
along with all my fears and doubts. What I am about to do
I will do for the soldiers in Iraq, they too are victims.
I am also doing it for the families of the dead and wounded,
who have paid a high price for this war. What I am about to
do is something I have to do for the people of Iraq, even
for those who fired upon me; they were just on the other side
of a battleground where war itself was the only enemy.
I cannot think of a better place to surrender than The Peace
Abbey, where all the insecurities that at times seem to crush
my will are humbled, and the real magnitude of my personal
sacrifice is put into perspective. So small is my price compared
to the children's, victims of mines and depleted uranium,
their families, the thousands of unknown civilians killed
in war, the soldiers themselves. So small is my price compared
to the price Humanity has paid for war.
Camilo
PRAYER FROM IRAQ
by Camilo
Dear Lord, Thank you for allowing me to live one more day.
Forgive me for all my sins, for all the things I should have
said and done but did not.
I ask of you to soften the hearts of our leaders and soften
the hearts of those who attack us.
Let there be no more war, and put an end to all violence.
Protect my comrades, and protect all those who are affected
by this war.
Give comfort to the dead and wounded. Give them the wisdom
to accept your decision. Put peace in their hearts.
Should you decide to take me from this world I will accept
your will.
Give strength to my family, and protect my little girl.
Let there be peace in all the world. Thank you Lord.
Sincerely and Deeply Yours,
Camilo
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Staff
Sgt. Camilo Mejia comes out of hiding to surrender
at Hanscom Air Force Base with family members and
other sympathizers at his side.
Miami
soldier resists: 'This war is 
DAN RATHER INTERVIEW WITH CAMILO: