HOOYBERG, Edo

Family Name:

Hooyberg

Given Names:

Edo

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown, probably 1948

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age/ Age Range:

22years old

Location:

WA, Carey Park

Occupation:

National Serviceman

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious Objector

Reason for Court Appearance:

[a] Application for full exemption from military duties
[b] Second application for full exemption from military duties
[c] Appealed decision of exemption from combatant military duties only

Court Name and Location:

[a] Western Australia
[b] Western Australia
[c] Bunbury, Western Australia

Court Hearing Date:

[a] 1969
[b] January 1970
[c] 18 August 1970

Court Outcome:

[a] Granted exemption from combatant military duties
[b] Granted exemption from combatant military duties again
[c] Granted a full exemption from military duties.

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

Edo Hooyberg was a 22-year-old from Carey Park in Western Australia. He applied for full exemption from military duties during 1969 but was granted exemption from combatant duties only. He made a second application during January 1970 for full exemption. He informed the court that he had spent 6 months as a conscript at Kapooka in New South Wales for basic military training but had to be present when the platoon did weapon training. He was revolted by watching bayonet practice where targets were dummies representing people. He also was required to attend character guidance lectures which postulated that the only way to settle a dispute between nations was armed confrontation. He stated that he had discussed the My Lai massacre with his father. This event had strengthened his pacifist beliefs. The magistrate was not convinced, and he was exempt from combatant duties only a s second time. Edo appealed the decision and Judge RE Jones heard it on 18 August 1970. During the court hearing Edo had said that even as a non-combatant you are still part of the military machine having one aim which was to kill in war. Further, he said that he had been raised as a vegetarian and as a pacifist who was an atheist. He believed that all killing was morally wrong. His father attended the court hearing and spoke of his pacifist background in Holland where he had served a year’s imprisonment because of his refusal to be conscripted. He had also edited two pacifist magazines until the outbreak of WW11. He also informed the court that he had been involved in non-violent resistance during the German occupation and the arrest of Jews. This was in support of Edo’s appeal. Judge Jones stated that he found Hooyberg an honest and candid witness and granted him full exemption from military duties as a conscientious objector.

Confirmatory Sources:

Peacemaker October/ November 1970, p.3.