The commanding general at Fort Stewart granted Cliff Cornell a reduction of 30 days in his sentence in response to our 1105 Clemency request.
This is a huge development on two counts: (1) this will now mean that Cliff will NOT have a felony on his record (since his new sentence will be of 11 months, not 1 year), which will make it much easier to gain employment and to eventually return to his beloved community of Gabriola Island, and (2) 1105 requests are rarely granted!
On behalf of Cliff and those who care about him, I want to thank all of those who wrote letters on Cliff’s behalf. I truly believe this is what made the difference. And especially want to thank the 40 or so folks who wrote from Gabriola and surrounding areas of British Columbia. Also huge thanks are due to Courage to Resist, Quaker House, the War Resisters Support Campaign, and Project Safe Haven for all of their work on this case.
I’ve talked to Cliff’s supporters at Quaker House in Fayetteville, NC (they have been visiting Cliff pretty religiously… pun intended… while he has been at the Camp Lejuene Brig) and they are planning a celebration upon his release. As soon as I know more details, I’ll let folks know.
For anyone who doesn’t know Cliff’s story, he fled to Canada to avoid an Iraq deployment due to reasons of conscience. After about a year, he established himself in the small community of Gabriola Island, in British Columbia. Cliff found a good job and a community that loved and supported him, but in the end the government of Canada decided to deport him anyway. I was his lead defense attorney when for his court-martial at Fort Stewart, where he received a 12 month prison sentence. Cliff has since been serving his sentence at the USMC Camp Lejuene brig.
As you can imagine, imprisoned war resister Travis Bishop is pretty discouraged that it is almost Christmas and he is still in prison for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. I get to talk to him fairly often on the phone but he is definitely discouraged. More than anything, Travis just wants to go home. The conditions and continual harassment at the Fort Lewis Brig have really worn him down, and it is really hard for him to keep his spirits up.
So, in our phone calls we’ve been brainstorming on if there is any other way we can lobby for Travis’ release from prison (the formal 1105 clemency application will likely not be heard for another month), and I think we’ve come to an idea that is worth doing.
We are asking that supporters of Travis send a Christmas card to Fort Hood Commander, Lt. General Robert W. Cone. (if anyone wrote the CG earlier as part of the Amnesty International letter drive, there has been a change in general since then)
In the card, please express your holiday greetings and then ask Lt. General Cone to release Travis Bishop from confinement. Please keep the notes on the card polite and preferably short. If you are a religious person, please feel free to remind the General that the Christmas holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and that Travis in prison for following the teachings of Jesus.
Please send your cards to:
Lt. General Robert W. Cone
Commanding General
III Corps HQ
1001 761st Tank Battalion Ave.
Bldg. 1001, Room W105
Fort Hood, TX 76544-5005
After you do that, please send a Christmas card or letter to Travis. His address is:
David Travis Bishop
Box 339536
Fort Lewis, WA 98433
Note that the Army will likely reject your first letter, and maybe your second also. Please keep trying to send Travis mail as he really wants to hear from you. When your letter is rejected, sometimes Travis gets to see the envelope. If so, he is then able to add your name to his approved correspondence list.
The record of trial will soon be authenticated by the court-martial judge, which means that we will soon have the deadline approaching to submit post-trial matters 1105 matters.
In layman’s terms, this means that before the Lt. General Cone (commanding General of Fort Hood) approves the court-martial results and sentence, we get to present whatever documents and other materials to him in mitigation in hopes that he will reduce Travis’ sentence.
We have one problem though… we don’t have enough letters from Americans!
I know that is a funny thing to say, but I think we need some letters from people right here in the USA asking for Travis to be released early, and preferably some from veterans. We do have some letters from the USA, but not near enough.
So, I’m asking all supporters of Travis Bishop to sit down now and write a letter to Lt. General Cone asking for Travis Bishop to be released early. It doesn’t have to be long, but it should be respectful and heartfelt.
If you have time handwrite it or to at least sign it with a pen, that is ideal. If you can do that, please fax it to me at 1-866-757-8785 or scan your letter and then email it to me at girightslawyer(at)gmail(dot)com. (If you can’t email or fax it, then you can mail it to me but I would recommend against it as the deadline is so close. If you must mail it though, send it to: James M. Branum Attorney at Law, 3334 W. Main St. #412, Norman, OK 73072)
If you don’t have time to handwrite it, please don’t let that stop you from writing an email. Just write what you want to say in email form, addressing it Lt. General Cone and them email it to me at: girightslawyer(at)gmail(dot)com.
Time is of the essence. While we could ask for an extension on the 10 day deadline (the clock starts running once the judge authenticates the record, which I expect will happen on Monday), I don’t want to do that, because the sooner we submit the packet, the sooner the General can respond to it. And if a miracle happens, I would love to see Travis get out in time for Christmas!
So, to give myself enough time to compile the packet, I’m asking that all letters of support be sent by Monday, December 14th.
Lastly, I understand some local peace groups have circulated petitions calling for Travis’ release. Please send fax or scan/email those petitions to me by December 14th as well.
Thanks!
James M. Branum
Attorney for Travis Bishop
P.S. Courage to Resist is still supporting Travis for his post-trial case. If you would like to donate for Travis’ legal defense costs, please go to: Couragetoresist.org/travis
I’m not sure yet what I will do with JMBzine.com, if anything, but I will be posting monthly newsletters over at peacereport.org. Please check it out. Thanks!
Andrew VanDenBergh
Staff member, Coffee Strong
760-799-5088
andrew10598(at)hotmail.com
James M. Branum
Civilian Defense Attorney for Travis Bishop & Leo Church
405-476-5620 or 866-933-2769
girightslawyer(at)gmail.com
Attorney reports human rights abuses of G.I. resisters in Fort Lewis Brig;
Veterans’ groups call Tuesday, October 13 Press Conference in Seattle Marriott
Fort Lewis, Washington, October 9, 2009 – Veterans’ groups are reacting with alarm to reports that two Army soldiers imprisoned in the Fort Lewis Regional Correctional Facility (RCF) have been subjected to human rights abuses. Travis Bishop (recognized by Amnesty International as a “Prisoner of Conscience”) resisted deployment to Afghanistan, and Leo Church left his unit to prevent his family from going homeless. Their civilian defense attorney James M. Branum reports that they have been strip-searched while being possibly filmed. Bishop and Church have also been watched by female guards during strip searches, while using the restroom and in the showers. The prisoners were denied one in-person visit by counsel and all phone calls with their attorneys have been illegally monitored by guards. G.I. Voice and other veteran-led groups are holding a press conference with Branum and other spokespeople, on Tuesday at 10:00 am in the East Room of the Marriott Renaissance Hotel Seattle (515 Madison).
Seth Manzel, a Fort Lewis Stryker Brigade veteran and executive director of G.I. Voice, commented, “These techniques of sexual humiliation are far too similar to those practiced on foreign prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Bagram in Afghanistan. Is the Army at Fort Lewis using enhanced interrogation techniques to break down American soldiers here at home?”
James M. Branum, the civilian defense attorney for Bishop and Church, says “The Fort Lewis Brig is violating the constitutional rights of my clients, namely their protections under the Eighth Amendment (the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment) and the Sixth Amendment (the right to counsel). This mistreatment must end.”
Other attorneys and military veteran bloggers have long commented on reports of human rights abuses in the RCF, including the use of female guards to sexually humiliate prisoners. The reports include the 2005 case of Michael Levitt, who plugged up his cell toilet in response to reported sexual humiliation by guards, and was then chained to a “stress-chair” (with metal frames but not seat) for 109 hours. Other war resisters, such as Sgt. Kevin Benderman and Spc. Suzanne Swift, have been held at the Fort Lewis RCF.
Sgt. Travis Bishop arrived at Fort Lewis one month ago to serve a 12-month sentence in the RCF, and was recognized by Amnesty International as a “Prisoner of Conscience.” Bishop refused orders to deploy to Afghanistan based on religious reasons, and applied for Conscientious Objector (CO) status. He went AWOL (Absent Without Leave) from Fort Hood, Texas, on the day of his deployment to give himself “time to prepare for my application process.” He was away from his unit for about a week, during which he drafted his CO application and sought legal advice. He returned voluntarily, and on his return to the unit he submitted his application, but was court martialed even as the Army was still reviewing it.
Travis Bishop is also an accomplished country musician. He opened for Toby Keith while serving in Baghdad with the 3rd Signal Brigade in 2007, as well as country stars Keith Anderson and Chely Wright (see links below). G.I. Voice is calling on country musicians and fans to come to the support of Travis Bishop.
Leo Church, another Fort Hood soldier, is also imprisoned in the Fort Lewis RCF. Church went AWOL to prevent his wife and children from becoming homeless. He tried to get help from his unit, but was denied, and received 8 months prison time. Church was eventually forced by this ordeal to give his son up for adoption. According to Church, “With everything that was going on, from me leaving, even though it was to care for my family, because I could find no support from the Army, Amanda and I had to place our son, Austin in a loving home through adoption. We did not want him enduring the strife that we had endured and for him to end up being fatherless, because I would be living in prison.”
Andrew VanDenBergh, a Marine veteran of the Iraq War and G.I. Voice staff member, said of Leo Church, “He joined the Army, found out his family was homeless, wasn’t allowed to keep his children from living on the streets, went to take care of his family, had to give a child up for adoption and is now locked in prison and being abused. Being abused for what? For taking care of his children?”
Fort Lewis continues to be a center of controversy, with the recent revelation that a civilian security employee has been spying on groups opposing the shipment of Strykers through local ports. Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq, was recently discharged from service after the Army dropped remaining charges against him. One year ago, G.I. Voice opened the “Coffee Strong” as a G.I. coffeehouse for servicemembers and their families around Fort Lewis to gather and share information, as well as a resource for those facing problems with service.
Also on Tuesday, October 13, Marjorie Cohn, President of the National Lawyers’ Guild (and national advisory board member for G.I. Voice) will be speaking at Coffee Strong about her new book The Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent. She is a leading voice demanding that members of the Bush Administration be prosecuted for war crimes. She also condemns both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as illegal under international law, not as self-defense of the United States. She will speak at 7:00 – 8:30 pm at Coffee Strong, located off I-5 Exit 122 (Berkeley St.), at 15109 Union Ave. SW (next to Subway) in Lakewood, WA. The event is free and open to the public. For information call (253) 581-1565, or go to G.I. Voice at http://www.givoice.org
BACKGROUND LINKS
G.I. Voice / Coffee Strong
http://www.givoice.org
http://www.coffeestrong.com
Coffee Strong: Listening to the G.I. Voice at Fort Lewis (Zoltan Grossman)
http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=1252
Army Prisoners Isolated, Denied Right to Legal Counsel (Dahr Jamail)
I currently have a very small amount of investments with the MMA Praxis mutual funds, but I don’t think I will for much longer.
For my non-Mennonite readers, I should say that MMA is rooted in the mutual aid tradition, the idea that members of the faith community should take care of each other. But like a lot of good ideas, it got institutionalized and then its values got diluted.
MMA today offers a bunch of different products – insurance, investments, credit union, etc. And the profits of MMA fund lots of good stuff. But I’ve found out some things that have made me question the whole company, in particular the investing strategy of the Praxis funds.
“It was not easy to persuade our poor white and black brother and sisters to rise up. We told them that rising up, standing up, whatever the consequences, would inspire future generations. Our courage, our bravery would be remembered and copied. That has been the Indian way for centuries, since the invasions. Fight and tell the story so that those who come after or their descendants will rise up once again. It may take a thousand years, but that is how we continue and eventually prevail.” – An Oklahoma Seminole Woman speaking about her remembrances of The Green Corn Rebellion, a failed revolution in Oklahoma in which the poor Indians, Blacks and Whites united in fighting against the oppression of the rural poor and against the draft of WWI
