Private First Class Kimberly Rivera is a conscientious objector and a pregnant mother of four children, who has just been sentenced to military prison. Rivera first deployed to Iraq in 2006. During a two-week leave back in the U.S., she decided to refuse a second tour of duty in Iraq. In January 2007, Rivera and her family packed up their car and crossed the border into Canada. She was later charged with desertion and faced up to five years in prison if convicted. Well, on Monday she was sentenced to 14 months. Under a pretrial agreement, she will serve 10 months of that sentence.
Since their arrival to Canada in early 2007, Kimberly Rivera, her husband and two children settled in Toronto. She had two more children there and made several attempts to legally immigrate. Canadas War Resisters Support Campaign championed the case, drawing endorsers including Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. But Canadian officials refused. In August, they ordered the Rivera family to leave the country or face deportation.
Her husband Mario Rivera will now become the primary caretaker for their four young children.
When she was in Iraq she talked to the chaplain, expressed her concerns. She said that she didnt think she could pull the trigger, if asked to. And this is a critical issue, because she was a gate guard at FOB Loyalty in Baghdad. Her job was a critical thing, as far as security coming on and off the base. And so, she felt that she morally could not do what she was asked to do; at the same time, she realized that she would put other soldiers in danger if she didnt pull the trigger when the time came. She talked to a chaplain about it. The chaplain largely pushed her aside, did not give her the counsel that she really needed. And so, when she came home on leave, she took other steps. And its unfortunate that she did not get the legal advice and information she needed to seek status as a conscientious objector.
The chaplain was very, very resolute that she needed to stay there, she needed to fulfill her mission, instead of giving her the spiritual counsel she needed at that moment. Instead, this chaplain told her basically, “Suck it up. Continue on.” And that was not the advice she needed at that moment. She needed to know her rights. She needed to know AR 600-43 gives her the right to seek status as a conscientious objector. She didnt know that.
The judge doesnt really give the rationale for why he made the decision he did. We do know there have been some resistance cases that have received greater sentences. As long as 24 months has been given. But many other resisters receive little jail time or no jail time. And people that desert, generally, over 90 percent do no jail time at all. And so, we feel that Kim was singled out.
The prosecutor at trial said that he asked the judge to give a harsh sentence to send a message to the war resisters in Canada. And we feel that wasthe Canadian government, in deporting Kim, said she would not face any serious punishment because of her political and conscientious objection to war. And in reality, thats exactly what happened. That was the prosecutions argument, that because she spoke out against the war, she therefore should be punished.
One other critical thing to mention is there is an ongoing campaign to have her released on clemency grounds.
http://couragetoresist.org/kimberly-rivera.html
– source democracynow.org
Mario Rivera, Kimberly Riveras husband. As she serves her 10-month sentence, he will become the primary caretaker for their four young children.
James Branum, defense attorney who represented Kimberly Rivera during her court-martial Monday at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. He has also represented dozens of other conscientious objectors and is also legal director for the Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research.