Bermudian conscripts organize to fight mandatory service

The Associated Press
Published: January 6, 2007

HAMILTON, Bermuda: A group of young men has filed a legal challenge to a draft used to fill the ranks of the Bermuda Regiment, a force with duties ranging from disaster relief to ceremonial parades in this tiny island chain.

Bermudians Against the Draft — 13 men in their 20s who are fighting service orders — argue the wealthy British territory could easily pay professionals to assist with storm recovery or any security operations.

“We have come together with the sole objective of bringing conscription to an end in the islands of Bermuda,” said Larry Marshall, a church minister who helped organized the group after his two sons struggled to win educational deferments.

“We as a group believe it is tantamount to 21st-century slavery,” he said.

A draft board selects males between the ages of 18 and 32 for positions not filled by a small number of volunteers in the regiment, which has a current strength of just under 500. Conscripts receive two weeks of full-time basic training, and are responsible for three years of part-time service.

Some of the group’s members are due to report for training this weekend, and they risk jail sentences if they do not appear. In November, four draftees were sentenced to 90 days each for skipping military duties.

A lawyer for the group filed suit in the territory’s Supreme Court last month to end conscription, and it plans to serve papers to government officials within weeks. Members say the draft infringes on their right to liberty and is unfair because women are exempt.

“People are standing up for their rights,” said 23-year-old Shaki Easton, one of the group.

A spokesman for the government declined to comment on the group’s challenge.

Leaders of the regiment, created in 1965, say the draft allows it to provide services unmatched by any agency on the islands, particularly during hurricanes and other emergencies. The force also provides assistance to police in the territory of about 66,000 people.

“If conscription were to be phased out or removed, a viable alternative would be required to supply the necessary personnel to fulfill these important roles that support Bermuda society in so many important ways,” the regiment’s commanding officer, William White, told The Royal Gazette newspaper.

The group has the support of one British lawmaker, Andrew MacKinlay, who has offered to consult the government in London on its behalf. Britain ended its military draft in the years after World War II.

“The people of Bermuda should be proud of the Bermuda Regiment. It should not be conscripted. People should have enthusiasm to join it,” said MacKinlay, a member of the Labour Party.

Of 541 men called up to serve in the regiment last year, 94 did not report for duty. Although many won deferments for various reasons, 21 were found guilty of unauthorized absences.