From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best Conscientious Objector

September 21 2005

Camilo Mejía
www.freecamilo.org

In April 2003, Camilo Mejía was deployed as an infantry commander to Iraq, where he performed his combat missions without fail. When he returned home for a two-week leave in October, the 28-year-old had time to reflect on his experiences. "Coming home gave me the clarity to see the line between military duty and moral obligation," he later wrote. "I realized that I was part of a war that I believed was immoral and criminal, a war of aggression, a war of imperial domination. I realized that acting upon my principles became incompatible with my role in the military, and I decided that I could not return to Iraq." So he put down his weapon and turned himself in. "War itself is the only enemy," he asserted. From prison he wrote, "Behind these bars I sit a free man because I listened to a higher power, the voice of my conscience." He served his time and was released Feb. 15.