La Jolla Teen Takes Stand Against Draft

Saying he wanted to “get the word out to people that draft registration and a draft is basically wrong,” an 18-year-old La Jolla High School student announced Monday that he was refusing to register with the Selective Service System.

Standing in front of the Military Entrance Processing Station in downtown San Diego with about 25 supporters who waved signs reading “Peace Now” and “Draft Registration’s Gotta Go,” Raffi Aftandelian told reporters that his conscience would not allow him to register even though there is no draft currently in effect.

Federal law requires that young men register for potential military service within a month of their 18th birthdays. Aftandelian’s month was officially up Monday.

‘People Feel Strongly’

Aftandelian said it was important to him to announce his decision publicly rather than quietly letting the deadline pass.

“I think part of the idea is to show the federal government and the American people that a lot of people feel strongly about the draft and about war,” said Aftandelian.

“What’s most important to me is that people reconsider what the draft and draft registration are all about,” he said.

Aftandelian said he began developing his pacifist sentiments during a nine-year period he and his Armenian parents spent living in Iran.

“I was experiencing military propaganda daily,” he said. “Every day we had to sing songs about patriotism and our desire to destroy the enemy.”

Aftandelian said his mother, who was a member of the anti-war group “Another Mother for Peace” during the 1960s, “completely” supports his decision not to register, while his father “does not think it’s a great idea.”

“He distinguishes between moral and immoral wars, unjust and just wars,” Aftandelian said. “But I don’t.”

In taking that stand, Aftandelian is following in the footsteps of Benjamin Sasway, a Vista resident who was the first individual to be prosecuted by the federal government under the 1980 registration law. Sasway was eventually convicted and served five months in a federal work camp.

Warning Letters

Carolyn Boswell, a spokeswoman for the Selective Service, said she did not have an exact figure for the number of eligible men who have refused to register. Suspected non-registrants are sent three warning letters. If they do not register after receiving the warnings, their names are forwarded to the Department of Justice, which decides whether or not to prosecute.

Boswell said the names of 597,000 suspected non-registrants have been sent to the Justice Department since 1983 and that a total of 20 people have been prosecuted since the law went into effect in 1980.

Aftandelian, who says he has no intention of registering, could be subject to a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000.

“I’m just going to go on with my regular life, go on to college and hope that nothing happens,” said Aftandelian, who plans to enter UC Berkeley in the fall.