Joe Glenton, British soldier who refuses to serve in Afghanistan

Joe Glenton, 27, British soldier who deserted the army and refused to return to Afghanistan, has been arrested and charged with six offenses. Among others, he has been accused of leading an anti-war demonstration in London, 24th October.

The British refusenik is facing 14 years of prison, four years for desertion and ten years for other charges. Joe’s mother, Sue Glenton, in opposing his arrest said: “You’ve got government ministers, army commanders and MPs speaking every day in support of the war. What’s so scary about a Lance Corporal having his say? My son is only speaking out for what he thinks is right.”

To Glenton’s surprise, his fellow soldiers at the barracks in Oxford greeted his decision with applause. “There were handshakes and a lot of pats on the back. Someone said I was saying what everyone else is thinking. I heard that from several people. A lot of these guys had just come back from tours of duty. Many senior people said they respected me for following my convictions.” he told the British daily The Guardian.

Campaigners from the Stop the War coalition supporting Joe Glenton have reported that the number of soldiers and soldiers’ families wanting to get engaged has significantly increased this years. Glenton himself criticizes the army: “We were told quite specifically the different reasons we were there for: to provide security, reconstruction, rebuilding infrastructure,” he said. “But over the course of my tour it became straightforward combat. A lot of guys around me didn’t know why we were there. The confusion happening in the UK today was evident among the troops three years ago.”

Since 2001, the year when the war in Afghanistan broke out, 223 British soldiers were killed, 940 have been wounded, 290 of them seriously or very seriously.

On the side of Afghanistan, eight years of NATO occupation has had a very bad impact on the already devastated country. In 2009 the UN Human Development Index (health, education, life expectancy, living standards etc) ranked it 181 out of 182 countries.

Only 14% of women are literate; pregnancy-related deaths are 60 times higher than in industrial countries; 50% of children under five suffer chronic malnutrition. President Karzai (internationally condemned for rigging the recent elections) introduced a law that effectively legalizes rape and threatens women with starvation if they deny sex to their husbands.

Anti-war and peace activists from 14 countries, including conscientious objectors from Greece, Shministim (high school students refusing conscription) from Israel, and veterans from the US are collecting signatures under the petition to Ministry of Defense to demand dropping the charges against Glenton.  There have also been solidarity demonstrations organized.

Glenton is not the only one British refusenik, but the first one to announce his decision publicly. In 2005, more than 380 UK soldiers went AWOL (absent without leave) and are still missing.

In 2006, Ehren Watada was the first US officer to refuse to go to Iraq and faced seven years in jail.  Backed by an international campaign which included his mother and father and serving soldiers, vets and supporters, Lt Watada was never imprisoned and last month he won his discharge from the army.

More information: http://www.refusingtokill.net

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6911788.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084