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Anti-Militarism: News & Updates
Event
January 7, 2020 to January 13, 2020
Please join us – for the week or for a day – for A week of witness against Guantánamo and all it represents, especially on January 11, the 18th anniversary of the opening of the facility.
Event
January 13, 2020
Please join the United Church of Christ Webinar on Asylum Accompaniment Training. January 13, 2020 4pmEST/1pmPST
RRN Letter
January 11, 2020
On December 29, the body of Efraín Martínez Martínez was found semi-buried in the department of Fransisco Morazán after having been reported missing a week prior. Efraín Martínez was a leader of the indigenous Tolupán community in Montaña La Flor. The Tolupán people are historically one of the most impoverished and isolated groups in Honduras.
Just a few days later, on January 3 the tortured body of Santos Felipe Escobar García was found in El Carbón, Olancho Department. Family members had reported his disappearance on December 29, when he was apparently abducted. Santos Felipe Escobar was a leader of the indigenous Pech community of Santa María del Carbón.
Event
January 10, 2020
Initial meeting to launch a local chapter of D4CC (Doctors for Immigrant Camp Closure) in Cleveland. This new national organization made the national news on 12/9/19 when they tried to bring the flu vaccine to immigrant detainees in San Diego and were turned away at the gate. Several physicians were arrested. D4CC is a non-partisan organization of over 2,000 physicians and healthcare professionals from all specialties who oppose the inhumane detention of migrants and refugees.
News Article
January 9, 2020
An officer tasked with separating migrant children from their parents under that pilot program speaks out — offering a rare public criticism of the initiative from within Border Patrol’s own ranks. “That was the most horrible thing I’ve ever done,” Wesley Farris, a high-ranking officer with El Paso’s Border Patrol Union, tells FRONTLINE’s Martin Smith in the above excerpt. “You can’t help but see your own kids.” “It was a young boy. I think he was about two. The world was upside down to that kid,” Farris says. “So when the contractor tried to take him away, he reached for me and he climbed up on me again, and he was holding on to me. So that that one got me a little bit.”
Event
January 9, 2020
We stand together to name the reality of families being separated by immigration practices. We name the reality of families being separated by immigration practices. We gather to raise visibility to the intense difficulty faced by thousands of families, not only on the US-Mexico border but in Ohio as well. We pray that the grace and healing power of God will comfort our sisters and brothers in these situations of suffering and despair.
Event
January 5, 2020
The spaghetti dinner is an IRTF staple and, this year, Quin and Paul are looking to add a bit of intrigue by expanding the evening to include TRIVIA—every brainiac's favorite time to show off how very much stuff they have crammed into their noggins!
RRN Letter
December 25, 2019
We are extremely concerned about the continuing threatsfrom the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the paramilitary Gaitanistas Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC).
ELN and AGC armed groups operating in Bojayá, are causing at least 2,250 people to live under forced confinement and life-threatening risk. Hostile actions include deployed landmines in the few areas with telephone coverage, which is restricting communities’ access to healthcare, food, water, and communication.
RRN Letter
December 23, 2019
We are quite concerned about the safety of staff and members of the human rights organization dhColombia (Asociación Red de defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos). Since the beginning of November, members of dhColombia have been surveilled by unknown men outside their homes and office. Prior to this, in August a member of dhColombia faced communication espionage, theft of sensitive information, and death threats. dhColombia made a request on October 4 for protection measures from the National Protection Unit (UNP); to our knowledge, they have not received a response.
News Article
December 23, 2019
Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the U.S. Border Patrol, has purchased 33 million rounds of ammunition for its new handgun and may buy more than 300 million additional rounds over the next five years. Customs and Border Protection agreed to pay $9.89 million for Winchester Ammunition. Another five-year contract for ammunition is expected to be awarded late next year, with its value estimated at between $80 million and $100 million. According to the agency, on a typical day it apprehends more than 1,000 people and seizes around 4,600 pounds of narcotics, along with $290,000 of undeclared or illicit currency. But the criminal misconduct by border officers recently reached a five-year high, an internal government report obtained by Quartz revealed. CBP is among the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies, and more than 50,000 CBP employees are authorized to carry sidearms.