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Friday, February 23, 2007

Fwd: Mexico Supports Mexican American Conscientious Objector Agustin Aguayo

Fwd: Mexico Supports Mexican American Conscientious Objector Agustin Aguayo

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Mother of Mexican-born U.S. war objector facing jail asks Mexico for help - International Herald Tribune
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/02/apobjector070220/ (AP story in English)

Official Mexican Statement (translated) Spanish version located here: http://www.sre.gob.mx/csocial/comunicados/2007/feb/b_050.htm
 
THE SECRETARY PATRICIA ESPINOZA CANTELLANO RECEIVES THE MRS. SUSANA AGUAYO
 
The SRE will lend consular attention to Dr. Agustín Aguayo, detained in Mannheim, Germany. 
 
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Patricia Espinoza Cantellano, received today the Mrs. Susana Aguayo, mother of the Dr. Agustín Aguayo Mares, American citizen by naturalization and of Mexican origin, who is under arrest in the American military prison in Mannheim, Germany. 
 
In the meeting, with Mrs. Susana Aguayo she presented to the Office of the secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE) a letter that requests the support of the Government of Mexico in favor of her son.  During the meeting it was verified that Agustín Aguayo Mares is of Mexican origin and that he acquired American citizenship by naturalization in the year 2000. 
 
In such cases, officials of the Chancellery explained to Mrs. Aguayo that the practice and international law impede to a State, in this case Mexico, to exercise the diplomatic protection against a secondary State (U.S.) of which is also national, unless the first nationality be the predominant one. 
 
Nevertheless, in consideration of Dr. Aguayo and his nationality of origin and to that of his relatives all being Mexicans, the Office of the secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has rotated instructions to the Embassy of Mexico in Germany, in order that aid be lent by the consulate, consistent with good relations to obtain information on the physical state of Aguayo Mares and his present legal situation. 
 
This is the official Mexican government report translated to English:
Legislators condemn the court martial that has continued against Agustín Aguayo, for which they have asked the Executive Chief to assume his legal defense.
 
The Senate of the Republic condemned the military judgment that continues against Mexican Agustín Aguayo for deserting the Army of the United States, and asked the president Felipe Cauldron that the Embassy of Mexico in Germany assume his legal defense.  Likewise, the full Senate requested to the office of the secretary of Foreign Affairs that "they exhaust all the political tactics and diplomacy to contribute to the immediate liberation of Agustín Aguayo and to guarantee his psychological and physical integrity". 
 
When presenting a point in agreement, the senator Silvano Aureoles, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, said that Aguayo, who was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and enlisted in 2003 in the US Army said, " he is a prisoner of conscience and one more victim of president George W. Bush's militaristic eagerness".  He gave details of how Aguayo was sent as a paramedic to Iraq in 2004, and , while living in Germany on a military base was notified in 2006 he would be returned to the zone of conflict, despite that had expressed his refusal to participate in said war, identifying with the "right of conscientious objection".  "Unfortunately in his case, the military courts of the United States have refused to recognize the right of Aguayo to be declared a conscientious objector and they have accused him of desertion", he added.
 
Legislators confirmed that Aguayo is prisoner in a military base of the United States, in Germany, awaiting a court martial to define his legal situation, and could be condemned to seven years of prison "for refusing to support the massacre of civilians and the innocent" in Iraq.  Besides, they defended the right of Aguayo to refuse to participate in a war, and it is "unjustifiable that someone can be imprisoned as a consequence of his decision to not participate in any type of military activities".  The proposal of Silvano Aureoles, considered by the entire Senate as of most urgency and of obvious resolution, was approved unanimously. 
 

Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:44:23 -0800 (PST)
From: undisclosed sender
Subject: Mexico Support Mexican American Conscientious Objector Aguayo
 
México anuncia ayuda a soldado disidente de EU
El militar Agustín Aguayo enfrenta cargos de deserción y de no asistir a un movimiento de tropas en Irak

Jueves, 22 de febrero de 2007

MÉXICO, D.F. (AP).— El gobierno accedió ayer a conceder asistencia consular a un médico del ejército estadounidense nacido en México que se negó a regresar a Irak y que podría ser condenado a siete años de cárcel por un tribunal de guerra.
La Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) dijo que intentará reunir información en torno a la salud y la situación legal de Agustín Aguayo, que enfrenta cargos de deserción y de no asistir a un movimiento de tropas. Su solicitud para ser considerado objetor de conciencia fue denegada, y se ausentó sin derecho a licencia en septiembre después de que se le ordenó volver a Irak.
Sin embargo, se desconoce si México proporcionará asistencia legal para ayudar a defender a Aguayo, que nació en este país y tiene la doble ciudadanía.
"La práctica y el derecho internacional impiden a un Estado, en este caso México, ejercer la protección diplomática [para un ciudadano] en contra de un segundo Estado [Estados Unidos] del cual también es nacional, a menos que la primera nacionalidad sea la predominante", afirmó la secretaría en un comunicado.
"Sin embargo, en atención a la nacionalidad de origen del doctor Aguayo y a que sus familiares son mexicanos, la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores ha girado instrucciones a la embajada de México en Alemania, a fin de que se preste asistencia consular consistente en buenos oficios para recabar información sobre el estado físico de Aguayo Mares y su situación jurídica actual", añadió.
El anuncio se produjo después de que funcionarios de la secretaría se reunieron con Susana Aguayo, madre de Agustín. Ella efectuó una conferencia de prensa el lunes en la Ciudad de México para solicitarle al gobierno mexicano que designara a un abogado para su hijo.
México suele proporcionar asistencia consular, en ocasiones incluso abogados, a sus ciudadanos encarcelados en el extranjero.
Susana Aguayo dijo que su hijo considera que la guerra en Irak es inmoral.
"El ha tomado esta decisión de no seguir esta guerra. Lo oí decir que no apoyaba esta guerra injusta e inmoral", dijo.
Aguayo, de 35 años, está detenido en el cuartel Leighton del ejército estadounidense en Wuerzburg, Alemania, y su juicio comenzará el 6 de marzo.
Además de una sentencia de cárcel, enfrenta la pérdida de su salario, la degradación y la baja deshonrosa.
Aguayo trabajó un año como médico de combate en Tikrit, Irak, en el 2004 después de que el ejército rechazó su solicitud de ser considerado objetor de conciencia. Saltó por una ventana de su habitación en una base de Alemania el 2 de septiembre para evitar otra gira con el Primer Batallón del 18 Regimiento de Infantería.

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