Silences. Daily violence of the armies

Silences. Daily violence of the armies

We present here the results of investigations carried out within the framework of the SILENCE project on parallel violence in the armed forces.

The SILENCES project was promoted by IDS (Informació per a la Defensa dels Soldats) of Barcelona, with the collaboration of Archivio Disarmo of Rome and the Victor Seix Institute of Polemology of Barcelona, in the framework of the Daphne Initiative of the Justice and Home Affairs Commission of the European Commission aimed at combating violence against children, young people and women. The research was carried out by the departments of Sociology and Political Science and Public Law at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The project was coordinated by María Jesús Pinto and directed by Tomàs Gisbert.

The project was born out of the need to deepen the analysis of the violence suffered by young people doing their military service, to analyze the legal mechanisms for protection and reporting of abuses and violence, to assist and support the victims of this violence and to formulate the necessary proposals for its eradication.

A sociological study has been carried out for this purpose and the legislation in force has been analysed. The studies have been carried out in Spain and Italy, which allows a comparison of the situations and an analysis of the link between this violence and the very nature of the armies. The studies have been carried out by the Departments of Sociology and Criminal Law of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Disarmo Archive in Rome.

On the 29th of November 1999, the results of the investigations and conclusions of the SILENCES project were presented at the Trencar els Silencis conference held at the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Barcelona (ICAB), with the participation of Gemma Calvet, Xavier Rambla, Montserrat Mora, Fabrizio Battistelli, Carmen Magallón, Salvador Giner, Carlo Marletti, Joan Gomis, Mercedes Garcia Aran, Joan Baucells, José Luis Gordillo, August Gil Matamala, Jordi Sala and Tomàs Gisbert.

We hope that the works and proposals that we present here will be a useful working tool to deal with the violence suffered by young people doing their military service and to defend human rights within these institutions.

THE PARALLEL VIOLENCE IN THE ARMED FORCES

Summary

THE TREATMENT OF VIOLENCE IN THE MILITARY SPHERE IN THE SPANISH LEGAL SYSTEM

Summary

CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS

Summary

RESEARCH ASSESSMENT REPORT

Note

IDS, Informació per a la Defensa dels Soldats, suspended its activities when the suspension of the Obligatory Military Service in Spain became effective in 2002.