European conscripts meet in Prague conscript is objectively informed about the actual situation in the region
ECCO urges the immediate release of three American soldiers convicted by a military court martial for organizing discussion groups to protest command-sanctioned racism." *
International Viewpoint # 239 • November 23, 1992
SPANISH STATE / EUROPE which, for substantial fees, takes them to the province of Almeria or further north. Taxi drivers will charge 32 to
40,000 pesetas to take immigrants from
Algeciras to Almeria.
The journey further north is made in goods' vehicles. If they stay in spain ON SEPTEMBER 24-27 conscripts from all over Europe they will work as agricultural and builgathered in Mjerzin, near the Czech capital Prague for the ding workers or gardeners for very low wages (for example 500 pesetas an hour annual conference of the European Conference of in agriculture. Conscripts Organizations (ECCO).
According to the Spanish daily El Pais, few women make the crossing in this way and those that do pay far more than the men. Women normally attempt to get a false visa.
If the immigrants are caught by the Spanish police they end up in "reception centres" where they may spend up to 40 days before being expelled. The internment centre at Tarifa for example, "is an office lent by the port authorities which used to be a waiting room for passengers travelling between Tarifa and Tangiers. There is a central corridor which is used as a refectory and two side rooms that have room enough for no more than 45 people.
"At some moments there have been up to 84 people there who are not allowed out - in this respect they are treated worse than criminals" according to a militant of the solidarity association with the immigrants, Algeciras Acoge ("Algeciras welcomes you"). Legally, the clandestine immigrant has thirty days to contest their expulsion order. At the end of this period, most are thrown
Organizations have been formed in Spain to protest against the treatment of these clandestine immigrants. Apart from Algeciras Acoge, there is Iguales en Derecho ("Equal Rights"). The former association organizes meetings in the capitals of the southern provinces each time clandestine travellers die in
European construction
In Spain as elsewhere the legal and police border controls that are being introduced as a part of European construction have no effect on the causes of this immigration - repression
RON BLOM
HE central discussion at this meeting was about transforming the ECCO from a platform into a real organization. This proposal was accepted by all the affiliated organizations except the Danes. (The affiliated organizations are: VML Finland, SCVR Sweden, AIS/FU Denmark, VVDM Netherlands, SOLAC Belgium, IDS France, ODS Spain, CASMO Portugal, VDSÖ Austria and SVM Czechoslovakia.)
Besides this organizational discussion, there was an important debate on the position of conscripts in Central and Eastern Europe and a related discussion on the difference between the union model and the spokesman system. The new regimes in Eastern Europe want to establish the spokesman system to channel the wishes and opinions of conscripts. They are opposed to organized independent unions such as are found in the Netherlands, Austria or Finland, which they cannot control. For this very reason, Swedish conscripts are examining the possibilities for setting up an independent union.
Representatives and conscripts were invited from East European countries and the new states that have emerged out of the former USSR.
Disappointingly, only three of these countries were represented - the host country Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgarla. Czechoslovakia: since 1990 there has been an almost independent organization called SVM. They have also established a spokesperson system. The SVM says that while much has been promised little has been done. The conscripts' law still doesn't give conscripts the right to act against abuses of power by officers. Apart from the re-establishment of the SVM, which was first founded during the Prague Spring of 1968 and suppressed after the Soviet-led invasion and "normalization", the only real change to conscripts' daily life has been the abolition of lessons in "Marxism-Leninism". The SVM's participation in ECCO opens the door to contacts with conscripts in other Central and Eastern European countries. The SVM has set up a special ECCO information service for this purpose. It was able to provide information on coun tries not represented. Hungary: There is no national conscripts* organization. The government is not in favour and there is little support among the public. A spokesman system is being introduced by the Ministry of Defence. After 1989 the situation of conscripts improved somewhat. There is a new law which offers
Extract from resolution and growing poverty in the Third
World.
"...ECCO expresses its great concern about the deaths of conscripts
In Africa half the population lives in engaged in peace-keeping duties in ex-Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
absolute poverty and the number of
Conscripts must have the right to choose whether they want to join a
African countries considered as "under-
United Nations-peace keeping operation. This choice may not be developed" has continued to grow — influenced by outside pressure and should only be made after the from 16 to 28. A big role in this decline is played by the massive transfer of hard currency to pay interest on the foreign debt.
The walls of Schengen will not halt the flood of misery. * he will be sent to.
cos that cater to gay men or lesbians. Soldiers already facing trial for sodomy are used as informers. For some reason female Gis are three times more likely than males to be discharged for homosexuality. In the
Marines the rate climbs to eight times as high. *
November 23, 1992 conscripts three options:
• 12 months normal military service.
• 15 months military service without a weapon.
• 22 months civil service. Bulgaria: The introduction of a multi-party system and free elections has not made much difference to conscripts. It is forbidden to found an organization inside the army and there is no spokesman system. A conscript cannot be a member of a political organization outside the army. The question whether an organization is political or not can, of course, only be answered by the Bulgarian authorities. The delegation did not consist of conscripts but of two captains working at the Ministry of Defence. Poland: Here conscripts serve 18 months. The Polish army also suffers from a financial shortage which does not enable it to equip conscripts very well. Some garrisons are even considering premature release of conscripts. Regardless of this fact the authority of the army is quite high among the population. There is no social organization in the army nor fixed structures dealing with the protection of conscripts' rights. Nevertheless, a "man of confidence", who is under the protection of the law, is elected at garrisons to defend conscripts' interests. At some garrisons, military meetings are held where the current problems with the commander are discussed. CIS: The situation here is complicated. Conscripts are one of the categories suffering the most from the break up of the Soviet Union and the overall crisis. Apart from material hardship, conscripts may get involved in the growing number of conflicts in the CIS (Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan). Many garrisons are suffering from food shortages.
Clashes between conscripts of different nationalities are becoming sharper. Young people are refusing to enter the army (the call-up plan is being fulfilled by only 70%).
According to the most recent information, army structures that want to ensure conscript rights are being created, such as the Council of Young Soldiers. Since the second half of the 1980s, the organization "Shield" has been functioning in the army. The leader of Shield is a member of the Russian parliament for the Democratic Party of Russia. It's unclear whether Shield still exists and if so what kind of activity it carries out. The Council of Conscripts Mothers, which brings together the mothers of conscripts who died on duty, also enjoys great authority. Among other things, it called for an amnesty for conscripts who evaded military service. Romania: In January 1990 the period of service was shortened from 16 to 12 months, but the following March it was increased to 14 months in order to keep "stability in the army"
Meanwhile, in "democratic" Western Europe: In the southern European countries in particular conscripts have no rights. For example, the French organization IDS ("Information pour les Droits du Soldat") can only organize information meetings on Sunday nights in railway and metro stations. In Spain and Portugal organizations of civilians concerned about conscripts' conditions have recently been formed. In Italy, Greece and Turkey there are no known conscripts' organizations. And, for example, it is still forbidden for the Austrian Union of Democratic Soldiers (VDSO) to distribute its publication in the
EUROPE / ex-YUGOSLAVIA