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Spain: Campaign against military service

01 November 1994

Between 29 October and 21 November there was a hunger strike of 50 "Insumisos" ("unsubmissives") in different Spanish prisons (46 of them in Euskadi) demanding an immediate end to compulsory military service. "Insumisos" ("unsubmissives") are objectors who refuse military service and community/substitute service. There is a big solidarity movement in support of this action, especially in the Basque country where there have been large demonstrations and student strikes. The movement unites those young people who declare themselves conscientious objectors under the Law on Conscientious Objection and the "Insumisos" who reject this law and want an end to compulsory military service. There is widespread backing for the protests, in the Basque country the Basque Parliament and the Foral Parliament of Navarre have passed motions of support.

In 1985 the number of objectors to compulsory military service was 12,170, by 1993 it was 68,209 - a figure already surpassed by October this year. In October the number of "Insumisos" was 9,300. The movement is strongest in the Basque country were 58% of those called to do military have refused, compared with 40% in the rest of the country. In addition, there is a massive backlog of 200,000 who want to do community service.

The government still supports the imprisonment of the "Insumisos", there are currently 182 in prison, but is faced with the impossibility of imprisoning thousands of young people (the usual sentence is 2 years, 4 months and 1 day). It is now planning alternative sanctions removing the threat of prison sentences and replacing them with a kind of "Berufsverbot" (ban) on jobs in public administration and prohibition on getting a driving licence.

Kontrola Kontrolpean, Donostia, Euskadi (State of Spain).