Regiment: Anti-draft fighters must serve

By Ruth O’Kelly-Lynch and Elizabeth Roberts

The Bermuda Regiment’s Commanding Officer yesterday declared anti-conscription campaigners still had to serve.

Lt. Col. William White said no court order had been made to exempt the men.

“The legal opinion that we have been given is that the originating summons is a letter from a lawyer and his 13 clients requesting that the courts review the claims.

“It is certainly not a court order stating that the rules of the land do not stand. It is not a directive to the Governor, Deputy Governor or Attorney General.”

The Commanding Officer also said that the Regiment is currently looking for six of the 13 men named in the writ because they are evading their duty.

Lt. Col. White explained that the six men the Regiment are looking for have been “attested”, which means their names were selected in the random ballet.

He said: “There is no judgment negating these individuals from doing their duty.”

The leader of Bermudians Against the Draft, Larry Marshall Sr., branded the Regiment’s stance as “totalitarian” and said that the young men should have the chance to contest the law before being forced to serve.

One of the young men is already in hiding after Regimental Police showed up at his place of employment and home yesterday.

The organisation, BAD, currently has 13 people named on a summons against the Governor, Deputy Governor and Attorney General.

This alleges that the Defence Department ballot which chooses conscripts is gender-biased and a breach of human rights because only men are picked, not women.

Campaigners believe Bermudian men are treated unfairly as citizens of a British Overseas Territory in being expected to serve, as Britain formally ended national service in 1960.

The organisation has also made allegations of ill-treatment of conscripts at Warwick Camp.

Mr. Marshall said: “They are asking these young men to serve in the Regiment but they are contesting the law. This is something you would expect from a totalitarian regime. These young men have taken them to court and this is just ridiculous.

Yesterday, one of the men named in the writ, Shaki Easton was in hiding because the Regiment have been looking for him.

Mr. Easton said he believed the fact his name is on a Supreme Court legal action aiming to get the draft outlawed meant the officers should not be trying to send him to Warwick Camp.

He claimed that military police visited his employer on Monday to warn that he should be at the Regiment, and the company could be charged with obstructing justice if it carried on paying him to work.

“My employer said I would not be able to work until I get my Regiment thing sorted out,” the 23-year-old plumber claimed. “I’m losing money.”

Lt. Col. White confirmed that the Regiment was looking for Mr. Easton and went to his employer but denied that the employer was threatened with charges.

He said:”I certainly haven’t taken any legal advice on that and am not threatening any employers with charges.”

The employer was informed that Mr. Easton was required to serve in the Regiment, Lt. Col. White said. He added that the employer appeared not to look favourably on workers who were running afoul of the law. The Regiment reportedly also visited the young man’s home, though he was not there as he has gone into hiding at an undisclosed location.

He told The Royal Gazette that the situation was stressful: “This is coming through Supreme Court and through lawyers. They are trying to frustrate us but it won’t work.

“I’m still part of this. I just feel that they are trying tactics to try and make us give up, but we are strong and sticking together.”

Via The Royal Gazette