Agustin Aguayo

Agustín Aguayo (born ) is a veteran of the Iraq War. After several failed attempts to attain conscientious objector status, he deserted his unit in Germany in September 2006 to avoid redeployment to Iraq. He was convicted of desertion by a court martial March 6, 2007 and served six months in prison. His trial led Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience.

Anti-war views Aguayo stated during his trial that he was not anti-war at the time of his enlistment, and became anti-war as a result of his experiences in the Army. Before a deployment, he applied for retroactive conscientious objector status in February 2004, but was denied,

He was deployed to Tikrit, where he served a year as a combat medic.

On March 6, 2007, Aguayo was convicted of desertion by a court-martial in Würzburg, Germany. An army prosecutor dismissed Aguyao's reasoning, stating, "His service was going to be important as a medic regardless of whether he was carrying a weapon or not."

Following his conviction, Amnesty International named Aguayo a prisoner of conscience, arguing that he had taken "reasonable steps to secure release from the army" and that he was "imprisoned solely for his conscientious objection to participating in war". On his return, he spoke of his experiences before an audience of antiwar activists, who gave him what the Los Angeles Times described as "a hero's welcome". Der Spiegel also described him as a "hero" to the US and European anti-war movements as a result of his trial.

Aguayo began a speaking campaign at U.S. schools to bring awareness to young people and educate them about the realities of war.

Family Aguayo has a wife, Helga Aguayo, and two daughters.