From: AlterNet
May 1, 2013
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Private First Class Kimberly Rivera — a conscientious objector and
pregnant mother of four — has just been sentenced to military prison for
refusing to serve in the Iraq War. Rivera was on a two-week leave in
December 2006 when she decided she would not return to Iraq for a second
tour of duty. She and her family fled to Canada in February 2007,
living there until their deportation back to the United States last
year. On Monday, a military court sentenced her to 10 months behind
bars. Her fifth child is due in December. We’re joined by Mario Rivera,
Kimberly’s husband and now the primary caretaker of their four young
children, and by James Branum, a lawyer who represents Kimberly and
dozens of other conscientious objectors.
This is Kimberly Rivera speaking late last year about her case.
KIMBERLY RIVERA: If you want to know, my biggest fear is being separated from my children and having to—having to sit in a prison for politically being against the war in Iraq.
AMY GOODMAN: 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. Canada’s 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. A provincial lawmaker
representing Rivera’s Toronto district, Cheri DiNovo, condemned the
order.
MPP CHERI DINOVO: As the member of Parliament for Parkdale-High Park, which is home to a number of war resisters, I know Kimberly personally. I see her in our—in our neighborhood, see her with her family. I know that she participates in the community. She’s a volunteer. She works with children. And she is a person who has shown great integrity and courage and principle. Surely, she is exactly the kind of person that we want to embrace and welcome here in Canada. Canada has a proud history of welcoming conscientious objectors from other wars in the past. Why not now? Especially given that this is a war that Canadians are proud not to have participated in.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Ontario lawmaker Cheri DiNovo speaking last August.
Kimberly Rivera turned herself in at the U.S.-Canadian border just
days later. She’s now on her way to a military prison for 10 months. Her
fifth child is due while she’s behind bars.
Well, we’re joined right now by her husband,
by Mario Rivera. He will now become the primary caretaker for their four
young children. We’re also joined by James Branum, the defense attorney
who represented Kimberly during her court-martial yesterday, Monday, at
Fort Carson. He’s also represented dozens of other conscientious
objectors, is legal director for the Oklahoma Center for Conscience and
Peace Research. They’re speaking to us from the Tim Gill Center for
Public Media in Colorado Springs, home to Rocky
Mountain PBS and KRCC public radio.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Mario,
you’ve just come out of the court yesterday. Can you respond to the
sentencing of your wife Kimberly to 10 months in jail for refusing to
return to Iraq and go to Canada instead?
MARIO RIVERA: I think it was
severely harsh, and I personally feel that the judge already made up his
mind before the trial had even started. It’s just too much. The kids
need her.
AARON MATÉ: Mario, tell us about the reaction of your children. How have they handled this whole ordeal? And what did they say yesterday?
MARIO RIVERA: As soon as they
found out yesterday, they broke down into tears. Just the thought of
being away from their mother for—sorry, for 10 more months; they’ve
already been gone for eight months out of her life, so it’s difficult.
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